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Marta awarded at the Cinemed Meetings

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- The project for Jean Anouilh’s debut feature takes home the main Development Aid Grant of the Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier

Marta awarded at the Cinemed Meetings

At the end of two days of pitches, the jury of the 26th edition of the Development Aid Grant, organised as part of the 38th Mediterranean Film Festival of Montpellier, crowned Marta, the debut feature project by French filmmaker Jean Anouilh which is being produced by Marie Sonne Jensen, Nathalie Algazi and François Drouot for La Voie Lactée, as champion. The screenplay centres around the character of Marta, who lives the life of a recluse in the hills on the Spanish border. It’s been months since she last saw Daniel, her only son. Suspecting her brother Toni’s involvement in Daniel’s disappearance, and understanding that the time has come to take back control of her life, Marta leaves for Perpignan to lead an investigation that forces her to come to terms with a secret that has been eating away at her for ages... Awarded by a jury made up of Jacques Bidou (JBA Production), Leyla Bouzid (director), Monique Carcaud-Macaire (film researcher), Antoine Khalife (Dubai Film Festival), and Dominique Welinski (DW Production), the development aid grant of €8,000 was given by the CNC, and comes with €5,000 worth of image post-production services from Anaphi Studios.

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The second grant, of €4,000 from the Occitanie Region (plus €5,000 worth of technical post-production services from French Kiss), went to the project Le boulevard Babel by seasoned Romanian filmmaker Gheorge Preda, which is being produced by Marghidan Liviu for Scharf Advertising.

The winners also included two other debut feature projects: Lebanese film Les quinze by Michel Zarazir, which is being produced by his brother Gabriel (awarded a €3,000 grant from the Beaumarchais Association and €2,500 worth of services from Titra Film) and Swiss-French-Belgian co-production Retour en Alexandrie by Tamer Ruggli (a Tipi’mages production), which was awarded a writing residency at the Moulin d'Andé. French project Mieux qu'un lièvre by Brahim Fritah (produced by Futurikon) has also been awarded a writing residency, but in Greece, from the Mediterranean Film Institute. Overall, this year’s selection allowed 15 professionals with projects, filmmakers and producers, to present their topics and intentions to the jury of the Development Aid Grant.

Last but not least, the second edition of the “From Short to Feature” section, which featured 12 projects judged by a jury including Yasmina Nini Faucon, Georges Goldenstern and Fabienne Aguado, awarded In the Heat of the Day by Israeli director Or Sinai and Partout l'absence by Palestinian filmmaker Ramzi Maqdisi. Both will benefit from writing residencies at the Moulin d'Andé courtesy of the SACD.

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(Translated from French)

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