Ventana Sur: INCAA, ANCINE renew fund for 2012

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The film institutes of Argentina and Brazil will once again offer a total of $800,000 towards the production budgets of four projects that advance through the selection process set to launch in late February.

INCAA president Liliana Mazure and ANCINE president Manoel Rangel told Screen at Ventana Sur on Sunday (Dec 4) that the move followed an encouraging response to the launch of an $800,000 fund this year.

The 2011 contest resulted in the support of new work by director Daniel Burman and producer Lita Stantic from Argentina and directors Paulo Nascimento and Henrique Freistas Lima from Brazil. Their respective projects are: All In (La Suerte En Tus Manos) and Habi La Extranjera, and A Oeste Do Fim Do Mundo and Hermanos.

“We feel producers in Argentina and Brazil are fusing their interests and we want to continue to work together,” Rangel said.

“This year’s contest received 23 project submissions and the fund was a good experience to incentivise our filmmakers,” Mazure said, adding: “The fund is important because the film industries of both countries are going through growth and we want to capitalise on this moment.”

The 2012 call for submissions will take place at the end of February and the four winners will be announced in the summer

Both agency heads pledged their ongoing commitment to working with European co-production partners following comments earlier in the Buenos Aires market by several Latin American filmmakers who advocated a cooling-off period in the wake of the Eurozone crisis.

“I have had meetings this week with the presidents of the film institutes in Spain, Portugal and France,” Mazure said. “Everybody is worried about the European crisis but they are also committed to continuing to work together.”

“It’s natural to worry about what’s going on but I don’t think this will make these relationships [with Europe] disappear from one day to the next,” Rangel added. “It may get harder but there will continue to be an interest in working with European partners.”

By way of illustration, Rangel on Saturday announced a renewal of Brazil’s co-production agreement with the Galicia Film Commission led by Anxo Quintanilla.

This arrangement with the North-Western Spanish province currently supports three projects. Where Does Happiness Hide and Sex Of The Angels (El Sexo De Los Angeles) screen in the market while the documentary Brasil Somos Nos is being pre-sold by Bossa Nova Films.