At the 24th jury session of the World Cinema Fund (WCF), the juries recommended contributing to the funding of nine film projects.
Four film projects - from Argentina, Turkey and Paraguay - were suggested for production funding. Within the framework of the WCF Europe programme, production funding has also been proposed for three projects from Colombia, Bangladesh and Chile.
Thanks to additional funding from the German Federal Foreign Office, the special programme WCF Africa was launched in 2016: two projects from Zambia and South Africa have been recommended for funding.
Since its establishment in October 2004, the WCF has awarded production and distribution funding to a total of 149 projects chosen from 2,755 submissions from Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Central and Southeast Asia, the Caucasus, as well as from the countries Mongolia, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. All WCF-funded films produced to date have screened in cinemas and/or the programmes of renowned international film festivals, and are evidence of the initiative’s worldwide success.
Latest Funding Recommendations
The WCF jury made their selection based on 131 submissions from a total of 46 countries. Their funding recommendations amount to 355,000 euros. The jury members are film scholar and curator Viola Shafik (Germany / Egypt), documentary producer Marta Andreu (Spain), distributor and producer Jan De Clercq (Belgium), and WCF project manager Vincenzo Bugno. In addition there are the jury members for WCF Africa, artistic director of the Afrikamera film festival Alex Moussa Sawadogo (Burkina Faso / Germany) and Berlinale delegate for Sub-Saharan Africa Dorothee Wenner (Germany).
WCF Production Funding:
La Cama, director: Mónica Lairana (Argentina). Producer: Gema Films (Argentina). Feature film. Funding: 30,000 euros.
The Gulf, director: Emre Yeksan (Turkey). Producer: Istos Film (Turkey) and Kundschafter Filmproduktion (Germany). Feature film. Funding: 50,000 euros.
The Heiresses, director: Marcelo Martinessi (Paraguay). Producer: La Babosa Cine (Paraguay) and Pandora Film Produktion (Germany). Feature film. Funding: 50,000 euros.
Rojo, director: Benjamín Naishtat (Argentina). Producer: Pucará Cine (Argentina) and Sutor Kolonko (Germany). Feature Film. Funding: 40,000 euros.
WCF Europe
WCF Europe has been made possible with the support of the European Commission’s Creative Europe MEDIA Programme. Production funding has been recommended for:
Candelaria, director: Jhonny Hendry Hinestroza (Colombia). Producer: Antorcha Filmes (Colombia) and Razor Films (Germany). Feature film. Funding: 50,000 euros.
Silence of the Seashell, director: Kamar Ahmad Simon (Bangladesh). Producer: Beginning Production (Bangladesh) and Weydemann Bros. (Germany). Feature film. Funding: 35,000 euros.
Losos Perr, director: Marcela Said (Chile). Producer: Jirafa Ltda (Chile) and Cinema Defacto (France). Feature film. Funding: 50,000 euros.
WCF Africa
The new special programme WCF Africa was launched thanks to additional funding from the German Federal Foreign Office. Recommendations for production funding include:
The Number, director: Khalo Matabane (South Africa). Producer: Born Free Media (South Africa) and Gebrüder Beetz Filmproduktion (Germany). Feature film. Funding: 30,000 euros.
I Am Not a Witch, director: Rungano Nyoni (Zambia). Producer: Icreate Films (Zambia). Feature film. Funding: 50,000 euros.
The World Cinema Fund is an initiative of the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the Berlin International Film Festival, in cooperation with the German Federal Foreign Office, with further support by the Goethe-Institut.
The special WCF Europe programme was launched with the support of the European Commission’s Creative Europe MEDIA programme. Thanks to additional funding from the German Federal Foreign Office, the special programme WCF Africa was started in 2016.