A scene from By the Time It Gets Dark, directed by Anocha Suwichakornpong.
The Doha Film Institute (DFI) yesterday announced the recipients of its first global grants programme at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival.
Among the 20 projects supported is Benjamin Naishtat’s debut feature film, History of Fear, which is set to have its world premiere today as part of the Berlinale Official
Competition line-up.
A co-production from Argentina, Uruguay, Germany, France and Qatar, the film is being funded by DFI in the Feature Narrative - post production category.
“The DFI global grants were launched with a vision of fostering creative cultural exchange among Mena and international filmmakers,” said Abdulaziz al-Khater, CEO, DFI.
He described the strong response to the first submission cycle as a testament to the institute’s goal of supporting global storytelling and nurturing
upcoming talent.
“We have seen tremendous success over the past three years with our Mena Grants programme, through which we have supported more than 130 projects. We are committed to the expansion of our grants initiative to include talented filmmakers from all over the world.”
Aimed at identifying new cinematic talent worldwide, with a focus on first- and second-time filmmakers, the fund received 396 applications for its first international cycle. The fund was previously open only to the Mena region. Applications were evaluated by an independent jury in December 2013 and were considered across three regional categories. The Mena region accounted for the majority (200), followed by the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list of countries at 108, and 88 from the rest of the world.
Of the 20 projects from 24 countries will receive funding for development, production and post-production, nine hail from Mena, underlining the emergence of cinematic talent. The grantees also encompassed of eight from the DAC list of countries, and three from the rest of the world.
They include highly anticipated projects by emerging talents from Argentina, Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Panama, Paraguay, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Uruguay alongside projects from Mena countries including Algeria, Iraqi Kurdistan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia.
In total, the grants will support 12 narrative films, including two shorts (one fiction and one experimental), seven feature documentaries and one experimental documentary.
While the fund has been expanded to include global filmmakers, emphasis remains on supporting filmmakers from the Mena region.
The other grantees for the Fall 2013 session are: Feature Narrative (Development) - Men in the Sun directed by Mahdi Fleifel (Palestine/UK/Greece/Denmark/Qatar), The Returning directed by Ehab Tarabieh (Syria/Qatar); Feature Narrative (Production) - Burning Birds directed by Sanjeewa Pushpakumara (Sri Lanka/France/Qatar), By The Time It Gets Dark directed by Anocha Suwichakornpong (Thailand/Qatar), Hedi directed by Mohamed Ben Attia (Tunisia/Qatar), House Without Roof directed by Soleen Yusef (Iraq/Germany/Qatar), Lamb directed by Yared Zeleke (Ethiopia/Qatar), Land directed by Babak Jalali (UK/Italy/France/Qatar), Mountain directed by João Salaviza (Portugal/France/Qatar), The Wounded Angel directed by Emir Baigazin (Kazakhstan/Russia/Qatar).
Feature Documentary (Production) - Holy Cow directed by Imamaddin Hasanov (Azerbaijan/Germany/Qatar), Memory Exercises directed by Paz Encina (Paraguay/Argentina/Qatar), Sidi Amar directed by Mohamed Ouzine (Algeria/France/Qatar), The Siren of Faso Fani directed by Michel K Zongo (Burkina Faso/France/Qatar), The Stopover directed by Laurent Aït Benalla (Morocco/France/Qatar).
Feature Documentary (Post Production) - Where Were You (During the US Invasion of Panama)? directed by Abner Benaim (Panama/Argentina/Qatar). Short Narrative (Production) - The Servants directed by Marwan Khneisser (Lebanon/Qatar).
Experimental and Essay (Production/Post Production) - Beirut Of The Balkans directed by Nicolas Khoury (Lebanon/Qatar) and Off Frame directed by Mohanad Yaqubi (Palestine/France/Qatar).
DFI will open applications for the next grant session from April 1 to 21, 2014.
