HEARTOF THETIGER photo: Ruud Jonkers
43rd International Film Festival Rotterdam #4 Sunday 26 January 2014
IFFR Industry tigers: Marit van den Elshout, Emmy Sidiras, Jolinde de Haas (standing), David Pope, Bianca Taal, Johanna Fuhler (standing), Nienke Poelsma and Inke Van Loocke
Kicking off the calendar It is to IFFR’s credit that CineMart, the festival’s mainstay for filmmakers and industry professionals, persists and even expands in spite of the European financial crisis, ensuring continued support for a new batch of hopeful productions. Michael Pattison reports
As the first co-production market of its kind, CineMart has now in many respects established itself as the start of the film production calendar. The 31st edition kicks off today, until 29 January. 25 projects were selected for this year’s CineMart. To ensure this year’s selection was as versatile and extensive as ever, acting Head of CineMart & Industry Bianca Taal headed an 11-person committee composed of CineMart staff and international advisors from a range of disciplines within the industry. Ongoing
Though the event itself lasts for four busy days, CineMart is an ongoing endeavour. Taal, working with Head of CineMart & Industry Marit van den Elshout (who is returning from maternity leave), says, “We are
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on the lookout for new talent and projects as well as developments in the industry year-round. The project applications for this year’s CineMart opened up midAugust.” Of course, part of the challenge facing financiers and filmmakers alike is the sheer rapidity with which the market changes. As the meeting point between the two, CineMart has to ensure it is always aware of such shifts. As Taal says: “One of our responsibilities is to keep track of developments in the film industry, which moves at a fast pace. We aim to know which companies are developing which projects, who is on the lookout for new talents, where interests lie in order to both present projects we’re passionate about and make sure that potential future partners of those projects are here in Rotterdam as well.” Just as no two film projects are the same, so the expertise and specialties of potential financiers will change according to the desires and needs of each production. “We’re expecting 682 guests,” says Taal. “We’re looking forward to welcoming back many returning producers, sales agents and financiers, as well as professionals who’ll be exploring CineMart for the first time.” Mammoth
Coordinating CineMart is a mammoth task. “The projects in selection are in high demand,” says Taal. “We have been truly overwhelmed by the number of meeting requests received. The projects in the CineMart selection received in total more than 1,400 meeting requests, of which 1,050 one-to-one meetings can be scheduled during the market.” One project selected for this year’s event is Caveh Zahedi’s The Sky Is Blue Like an Orange. “We are currently in the process of trying to attach name actors to the film,” Zahedi says. “We are hoping to find co-production partners at CineMart not only for the current project but for other projects as well.” This last point is indicative of the long-term capabilities of a co-production market such as CineMart. Its appeal to new filmmakers in this regard isn’t difficult to imagine. “We are also interested in forging longterm relationships with as many production and distribution entities as possible,” remarks Zahedi, of USA’s Greyshack Films. Babis Makridis, meanwhile, is attending CineMart for his new project Pity. “We are at the final stage, I hope, of writing the script and we hope we can shoot
the movie this year.” Asked what it means to attend this year’s event, Makridis says, “CineMart is a great place to describe the story [of Pity] to others. To have their feedback and to feel what impact the story has on professionals.” Cooperation
“For me, CineMart is the starting point of Pity,” Makridis continues. “It is where we will move from the inside to the outside. From our lonely small writing room to the public.” Indeed, cooperation and collaboration are very much the emphases of CineMart. Its cultural standing and international reputation, moreover, speak to the increasingly international nature of film financing. In this respect, CineMart is not only dedicated to facilitating meetings between filmmakers and a range of potential worldwide funders, but is itself connected to other co-production markets and international film festivals. Two of the 25 projects this year, for instance, are part of CineMart’s Boost! programme – a joint initiative by IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund, Rotterdam Lab and the Binger Filmlab in Amsterdam, which also welcomes three new partners: South Africa’s Durban FilmMart, Argentina’s Fundación TyPA and the National Film Development Corporation of India. Art:Film
Meanwhile, three other CineMart projects form Art:Film, an initiative founded two years ago by IFFR and Denmark’s CPH:DOX, that aims to respond to the specific needs of artistic cinema at the levels of funding, production and distribution. Jacobine van der Vloed, one of the two curator-organisers of Art:Film, notes that trimming this year’s selection from five to three projects is a good thing: “more attention, more focused.” This year’s Art:Film sees other profitable changes. Says Van der Vloed, “As we wanted it more like a think-tank this year, we assembled a small group of experts around each project, questioning and debating each project’s needs and potential. The group will not function like a jury but rather like a team of experts and colleagues getting the ideas floating.” And, of course, participation is key. “The whole room/ audience will also contribute to the presentation and the two moderators, Omar Kholeif and Ben Cook, will be there to guide the discussion.”
international film festival rotterdam
Long-term
Like the three projects under its remit, Art:Film itself is a work in progress, as it looks to expand and negotiate an ever-changing market. These international links reveal the strength of CineMart. Being as established as they are, moreover, they also suggest long-term aims. Indeed, as Bianca Taal notes, “three CineMart projects are part of the Rotterdam-Berlinale Express, meaning they will continue their meetings at the Berlinale co-production market [next month]”. The unspoken acknowledgement here is that films are the outcome not of overnight coincidences, but of professional relationships that are able to endure difficulties and find new ways of negotiating tough terrains in the long term.
Tiger Shorts Awards Twenty-four short films were nominated in the Tiger Awards Competition for Short Films 2014. The winners have now been chosen by the jury (filmmaker/artist Mika Taanila, curator Bart Rutten and filmmaker/actress Mati Diop). Each of the three equal Tiger Awards for Short Films comes with a €3,000 cash prize and a video camera. In addition, the jury selects the IFFR nomination for the European Film Award for Short Film 2014, the winner of which will be announced in December 2014. Tonight, 21:00 hrs in LantarenVenster 1, free admission.
Grand Talk The Finnish Speech Karaoke Action Group doesn’t have a catalogue of boring pop hits, but a database of snippets from legendary European speeches. Today, they will teach you the finer points of presenting these during a workshop. You can sign up in situ. On Wednesday 29 January, you can then present the text to a packed house with complete conviction. 13:00-21:00, De Doelen Coffee Corner, free admission and participation.