HBF 2024

HBF+Europe recipients 2024

Erige Sehiri, Danielle Arbid and Francisco Márquez’s latest projects are among the 10 co-productions receiving €60,000 each through the Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR).

The projects, eight supported for co-production and two for post-production, are helmed by mostly first- or second-time filmmakers from Singapore, Turkey, Lebanon, Chile, Tunisia, Mexico and Argentina. The European co-producers, through which the projects are awarded, hail from the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, France and Spain. 

Tunisian director Sehiri, whose debut Under The Fig Tree debuted in  Directors’ Fortnight 2022, is supported for Marie & Jolie. The film centres around a pastor, a trafficker and an art student living together in a tense Tunisia. Sehiri produces through her out outfit Henia Production while French outfit Maneki Films co-produces.

French filmmaker Arbid’s Love Conquers All is set to star Hiam Abbas as an older Lebanese woman who falls for a young undocumented Sudanese migrant. It is produced by Lebanon’s Abbott Pictures with France’s Easy Riders Film.

From The Long Night Of Francisco Sanctis director Márquez comes The World Is Ours . Set in north Paraguay, the film blends history and fantasy to explore resistance, land rights and Indigeneity. It is produced by Argentina’s Pensar con las Manos with France’s Altamar Films.

Other projects include Agora by Tunisian filmmaker Ala Eddine Slim. Supported in post-production, the thriller follows missing people who begin showing up in a secluded town. It is produced by Tunisia’s Exit Films with France’s Cinenovo.

The HBF+Europe fund is supported by the Creative Europe - Media programme to encourage European co-producers to projects from Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe.

HBF+Europe: Minority Co-production Support selection 2024

Amoeba (Sing-Neth-Fr-Sp)
Dir. Siyou Tan
Lead producer: Akanga Film Asia (Singapore)
Applicant producer: Volya Films (Netherlands)

As Shadows Fade (Turk-Ger-Neth-Nor)
Dir. Burcu Aykar
Lead producer: Liman Film (Turkey)
Applicant producer: Isabella Films (Netherlands)

Hijas únicas (Chil-Arg-Ger)
Dir. Alba Gaviraghi
Lead producer: Agosto Cine (Chile) 
Applicant producer: Nabis Films (Germany) 

Love Conquers All (Leb-Fr)
Dir. Danielle Arbid
Lead producer: Abbott Productions (Lebanon)
Applicant producer: Easy Riders Films (France)

Marie & Jolie (Fr-Tun) 
Dir. Erige Sehiri
Lead producer: Henia Production (Tunisia)
Applicant producer: Maneki Films (France)

El Mundo Es Nuestro (Arg-Bra-Fr)
Dir. Francisco Márquez
Lead producer: Pensar con las Manos (Argentina)
Application producer: Altamar Films (France)

Six Months In The Pink And Blue Building (Mex-Den-Fr-Bra) 
Dir. Bruno Santamaría
Lead producer: Ojo de Vaca (Mexico)
Applicant producer: Snowglobe (Denmark)

Anonymous project

HBF+Europe: Post-production Support selection 2024

Agora (Tun-Fr-Saudi Arabia)
Dir. Ala Eddine Slim
Lead producer: Exit Films (Tunisia)
Applicant producer: Cinenovo (France)

Olivia (Arg-UK-Sp)
Dir. Sofía Petersen
Lead producer: Animitas (Argentina)
Applicant producer: Vitrine Filmes (Spain)

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