With preparations for the event currently in full swing, the 29th Holland Film Meeting (HFM) has extended its deadline for project submissions to 10 July. The final selection will be announced in mid-August, and the event is to be held from 22-25 September in the city of Utrecht, in parallel with the Netherlands Film Festival.

The HFM will once again focus on European co-productions by selecting 20 producer-director teams, who will be invited to pitch their upcoming projects to potential international production partners, financiers, sales agents and distributors.

All selected projects will be considered for two awards: the Cam-a-lot & Filmmore Cinema Emerging Talent Prize for Best Project (€10,000 in camera and post-production facilities) and the WarnierPosta Prize (€5,000 in audio post-production facilities at one of the WarnierPosta studios). Furthermore, the HFM is continuing its close association with the Cannes Producers Network, which will enable an HFM Co-Production Platform producer to benefit from full Producers Network accreditation in 2017.

Last year’s winners included the Catalan project Summer 1993 by Carla Simón and the Dutch-Mexican co-production Unknown Family by Ron Termaat (read the full HFM 2015 report).

This year, the HFM is being run for the first time by Vanja Kaludjercic, who replaced Signe Zeilich-Jensen after she stepped down from the post last September after five editions.

Events like the HFM have become particularly fruitful for local professionals and international producers wishing to work in the Netherlands, particularly since the launch of the Netherlands Film Fund Production Incentive scheme in 2014. The scheme, based on a system of cash rebates, had supported 125 projects up until the end of 2015, two-thirds of which were international co-productions.