Young film-makers Dwayne Hopkins and Jens Jonsson were named as the first recipients of funding from the UK's Cinema Extreme scheme, it was announced at the Edinburgh festival.

Hopkins and Jonsson will each receive up to $75,000 (£50,000) to take their short projects, respectively, Love Me Or Leave Me Alone and A Changed Man, from script stage to screen.

The Cinema Extreme programme was set up last year as a joint venture by FilmFour Lab, the Robin Gutch-headed arm of FilmFour, and the Film Council's New Cinema Fund. The two organisations also launched two other programmes to support shortfilm making Comedy Shorts and Internet/Viral Shorts (Screendaily Aug 8, 1991). The selection process was handled on their behalf by production house the Bureau. Speaking in Edinburgh, Gutch told Screendaily, "Cinema Extreme is there to stimulate people with ideas."

The initiative plans to make up to four awards a year with the next deadline for submissions set as Oct 4.