01/02/2018 - Dutch project Mitra by Kaweh Modiri and A White, White Day, the sophomore feature by Hlynur Pálmason, have received the top Eurimages and ARTE awards, respectively

The refocused 35^th edition of CineMart has come to a close with the awards ceremony, held on 31 January. The international co-production market of the 47^th International Film Festival Rotterdam announced its four winning projects, which were chosen from among the 16 participants (see the news). You can get further insight into the projects by reading our report.

Dutch director of Iranian descent Kaweh Modiri received the much sought-after Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, valued at €20,000, for his project Mitra [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaweh Modiri
film profile], produced by Frank Hoeve and Katja Draaijer for BALDR Film. The jury, comprising Arben Zharku, director of the Kosovo Cinematography Center; Dorien van de Pas, member of the board at Eurimages; and producer Rachel Ellis, justified their decision as follows: “The filmmaker presented a very personal, delicate and urgent story that crosses generations and deals sensitively with themes of retribution, guilt and coming to terms with very deep personal loss, whilst also being a very politically important film.”

The Argentinian project Electrocute by Gastón Solnicki won the Filmmore Post-Production Award, worth €7,500. The project, produced by Rei Cine SRL, follows a young medical student who, due to a series of hospital emergencies, decides to abandon the comforts of his bourgeois Jewish upbringing. The jury members, producers Annamaria Lodato, Bart Van Langendonck, and co-founder of Dutch post-production and VFX house Filmmore Anton Scholten, stressed: “The director, with the backing of his producers, combines his qualities to put the eccentricities of the unexpected into his films with the more traditional way of storytelling he wants to use for this project. The combination of these elements bears the exciting promise of an extraordinary film."

The same jury also handed the ARTE International Prize, valued at €6,000, to A White, White Day [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hlynur Pálmason
film profile], directed by Hlynur Pálmason and produced by Anton Máni Svansson (Join Motion Pictures) and Katrin Pors (Snowglobe). The jury stated: “The prize is given to a talented filmmaker preparing his second feature, for the quality of his previous work, and for an original and powerful artistic vision and an intriguing subject.”

Finally, the Wouter Barendrecht Award (worth €5,000), given to a director under 35 years of age, went to Madagascan filmmaker Luck Razanajaona for his project Disco Afrika, produced by Jonathan Rubin and François Magal for Réunion-based We Film. “We are convinced that the grant shall be well spent on the further development of this upright endeavour,” opined the jury, consisting of Ellis Driessen and Nelleke Driessen, both representatives of the Wouter Barendrecht Film Foundation.

Here is the full list of winners at the 35^th CineMart:

Eurimages Co-Production Development Award
Mitra [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kaweh Modiri
film profile] – Kaweh Modiri (Netherlands)

Filmmore Post-Production Award
Electrocute – Gastón Solnicki (Argentina)

ARTE International Prize
A White, White Day [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hlynur Pálmason
film profile] – Hlynur Pálmason (Iceland/Denmark)

Wouter Barendrecht Award
Disco Afrika – Luck Razanajaona (France/Madagascar)