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IFFR 2019 IFFR Pro

The 36th CineMart reveals its winners

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- Poland’s Stillborn by Olga Chajdas has taken home the coveted Eurimages Co-Production Development Award from the 36th CineMart awards ceremony

The 36th CineMart reveals its winners
The winners of the 2019 CineMart

The IFFR Pro awards ceremony (30 January) marked the end of the 36th edition of International Film Festival Rotterdam’s CineMart co-production market, with the juries awarding the international projects that they thought had the most potential. The event was opened by the director of the IFFR himself, Bero Beyer. “I’ve just come from a screening of Peter Jackson’s new film [They Shall Not Grow Old [+see also:
film review
trailer
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]
], where he reconstructed images from World War I and turned them into a 3D experience. And it really hit home,” he shared with the audience. “Every film you make can make a difference. I hope that all of these discussions that you’ve had and meetings you’ve taken part in were about the meaning of what you are trying to do. Finding money, partners and co-producers is very relevant, but if you are working on a project that – spoiler alert! – may take years, it had better be worth it,” he added. 

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The winner of this year’s Eurimages Co-Production Development Award of €20,000, Polish director Olga Chajdas, who won the VPRO Big Screen Award for her film Nina [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
 in 2018, echoed this sentiment: “When I showed my last film here, I said it was about love and was made with love. If I ever come here with a movie that hasn’t been made with love, kick me in the arse.” Stillborn, produced by Izabela Wójcik, of Apple Film Production, and following a fragile young woman from 1987 all the way up to Poland’s free elections in 1989, proved a clear winner in the jurors’ eyes. “It’s important to mention that five out of the seven eligible projects had female directors. So hooray for the ladies!” pointed out Majlinda Tafa, who was on the jury with Constanza Arena and Frans van Gestel. “We chose a project that reflects on recent European history and is carried by a female protagonist with a young and vibrant heart. The director’s visual style, her determination and her approach to the recent history of her nation made us confident that this film will travel over any borders.”

The Wouter Barendrecht Award of €5,000 for the best project from an emerging filmmaker under the age of 35 and with no more than three features under their belt (“Sorry, but it makes life difficult for us, too,” joked Ellis Driessen, who presented the award together with Nelleke Driessen) went to Daughter of Rage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Baumeister
film profile
]
 from Nicaragua, directed by Laura Baumeister, and produced by Rossana Baumeister (Tanacatana Films) and Eva Chillon (Pomme Hurlante Films). The ArteKino International Prize of €6,000, providing support for financial development, was given to the Argentinian title The Fever by Mateo Bendesky, produced by Agustina Costa Varsi (Volpe Films), which is about a girl forced to undergo an exorcism by her parents. The jury, consisting of Anton ScholtenAnnamaria Lodato and Johannes Rexin, also chose the winner of the Filmmore Post-Production Award, worth €7,500. “I can’t help but notice that last year’s winner [Gastón Solnicki] is sitting next to this year’s winner!” noticed Scholten, before awarding A House in Jerusalem by Muayad Alayan, produced by Rami Alayan, of PalCine Productions. “When you said that, some filmmaker was nudging me saying, ‘It’s you!’ So that was a good hint,” joked the director. “It’s always great to start the year in Rotterdam and get this kick of energy.”

For the very first time, the Hubert Bals Fund (HBF), the Netherlands Film Fund (NFF) and the Netherlands Post production Alliance (NPA) teamed up to launch the Dutch Post-production Awards, each worth €50,000 and a surplus of €5,000 in kind, to be spent on post-production at one of the NPA member studios in the Netherlands. Jury members Sandro FiorinGurvinder Singh and Jane Williams decided to award Days of Cannibalism [+see also:
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interview: Teboho Edkins
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]
 by Teboho Edkins and Lost Lotus [+see also:
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]
 by Liu Shu. “Inspired by the tradition of the Hubert Bals Fund to support urgent and remarkable films, the jury was moved to use this prize where it could be most effective and could make a real difference,” said Williams. The BoostNL Audience Award turned out to be another surprise this year, with an audience jury of film fans deciding among the projects presented during the BoostNL Spotlight event. €2,500 went to When We Lost to the Germans by Guido van Driel (produced by Floor Onrust, of Family Affair Films). Finally, jurors Antoine Cardon and Barney Steel decided to give the HeYou Media VR Award, worth €1,000, to Cosmos Within Us, directed by Tupac Martir and produced by Lilian Hess, of Satore Studio/Tech.

The IFFR Pro awards were supported by Arte, the Wouter Barendrecht Foundation, the Netherlands Post production Alliance, Filmmore, the Council of Europe and Eurimages.

Here is the full list of winners:

Eurimages Co-Production Development Award
Stillborn – Olga Chajdas (Poland)
Producer: Apple Film Production

Wouter Barendrecht Award
Daughter of Rage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Baumeister
film profile
]
 – Laura Baumeister (Nicaragua)
Producers: Tanacatana Films, Pomme Hurlante Films

ARTE International Prize
The Fever – Mateo Bendesky (Argentina)
Producer: Volpe Films

Filmmore Post-Production Award
A House in Jerusalem – Muayad Alayan (Palestine/Qatar)
Producer: PalCine Productions

Dutch Post-production Awards
Days of Cannibalism [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Teboho Edkins
film profile
]
 – Teboho Edkins (France/South Africa) 
Lost Lotus [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
 – Liu Shu (Hong Kong/France/Netherlands) 

BoostNL Audience Award
When We Lost to the Germans – Guido van Driel (Netherlands)
Producer: Family Affair Films 

HeYou Media VR Award
Cosmos Within Us – Tupac Martir (UK)
Producer: Satore Studio/Tech

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