10/12/2021 - New projects by Cristian Mungiu, Jessica Hausner, Susanna Nicchiarelli, Bertrand Bonello, Abderrahmane Sissako and Houda Benyamina among the selection

Director Cristian Mungiu, whose project R.M.N is selected by Eurimages (© Mobra Film)

At its 164th meeting held online, the Board of Management of the Council of Europe's Eurimages Fund agreed to support 37 feature film projects, including 5 documentaries and 5 animation films, for a total amount of €9 141 000.

The share of eligible projects with female directors examined at this Eurimages Board of Management meeting was 33.12%. 48.65% of the projects supported were directed by women and €3,962,000 was awarded to these projects, representing 43.34% of the total amount awarded.

The films supported include the new work by acclaimed Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu five years after his acclaimed 2016 title Graduation [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Cristian Mungiu
film profile], R.M.N [+see also:
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interview: Cristian Mungiu
interview: Judith State
film profile] (Romania/France/Belgium) (with €420,000); as well as the new films by Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner (whose latest effort is the 2019 film Little Joe [+see also:
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interview: Jessica Hausner
film profile]), Club Zero [+see also:
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interview: Jessica Hausner
film profile] (Austria/Germany/France/United Kingdom) (with €450,000); Italy's Susanna Nicchiarelli (who presented her latest feature Miss Marx [+see also:
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interview: Susanna Nicchiarelli
film profile] last year), Chiara [+see also:
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interview: Susanna Nicchiarelli
film profile] (Italy/Belgium) (with €480,000); France's Bertrand Bonello (after his 2019 title Zombi Child [+see also:
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interview: Bertrand Bonello
film profile]), The Beast [+see also:
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interview: Bertrand Bonello
film profile] (France/Canada) (with €290,000) and Houda Benyamina (five years after her Caméra d'Or-winning Divines [+see also:
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interview: Houda Benyamina
film profile]), All for One (France/Belgium) (with €500,000); and acclaimed Mauritanian-born Malian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (seven years after his César-winning Timbuktu [+see also:
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film profile]), Black Tea [+see also:
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film profile] (woking title: The Perfumed Hill) (France/Luxembourg) (with €470,000).

Other established filmmakers that have received funding for their new projects are France's David Oelhoffen, with €360,000 for The Fourth Wall (France/Luxembourg/Belgium); Austria's Barbara Albert, with €150,000 for Blindness of the Heart (Germany/Luxembourg/Switzerland); Bulgaria's Milko Lazarov, with €240,000 for The Herd (Bulgaria/Germany/Luxembourg); Denmark's Nikolaj Arcel, with €470,000 for The Promised Land [+see also:
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film profile] (Denmark/Germany/Sweden); Greece's Yorgos Zois, with €180,000 for Arcadia (Greece/Bulgaria/Serbia); Slovakia's Iveta Grofova, with €330,000 for The Hungarian Dressmaker [+see also:
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interview: Iveta Grófová
film profile] (Slovakia/Czech Republic); Lithuania's Tomas Vengris, with €230,000 for Five and a Half Love Stories in an Apartment in Vilnius, Lithuania [+see also:
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interview: Tomas Vengris
film profile] (Lithuania/Latvia/Ireland); and three directors coming from the Netherlands, Michiel ten Horn with €250,000 for Hotel Sinestra (Netherlands/Switzerland), Sander Burger with €290,000 for Totem [+see also:
interview: Sander Burger
film profile] (Netherlands/Luxembourg/Germany) and Guido Van Driel with €300 000 for When We Lost to the Germans (Netherlands/Belgium). 

A few second fiction features have also been funded, such as the new directorial effort by Serbian actress Mirjana Karanović, Mother Mara [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Serbia/Luxembourg/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Slovenia/Montenegro) (with €170,000) as well as the new films by Portuguese duo João Miller Guerra - Filipa Reis, Légua [+see also:
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interview: Filipa Reis, João Miller Gu…
film profile] (Portugal/France/Italy) (with €143,000) and two Turkish directors, Gürcan Keltek, New Dawn Fades [+see also:
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interview: Gürcan Keltek
film profile] (Turkey/Italy/Germany/Netherlands/Norway) (with €70,000), and Melisa Fatma Önel Tecimen, Suddenly (Turkey/Germany/Serbia) (with €85,000).

The first fiction features supported are Quitter la nuit [+see also:
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interview: Delphine Girard
film profile] (Belgium/France/Canada) by Belgium's Delphine Girard (with €235,000); The Open Body [+see also:
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interview: Ángeles Huerta
film profile] (Spain/Portugal) by Spain's Angeles Huerta (with €270,000); Caravan (Czech Republic/Italy/Slovakia), by Czech director Zuzana Kirchnerová (with €250,000); Day Begins in a Blue Room (Belgium/France) by Costa Rican born, Belgium-based director Valentina Maurel (with €100,000); Kretsul (Russia/Lithuania) by Russia's Aleksandra Likhacheva (with €48,000); Man of the House (Albania/Italy) by Albania's Andamion Murataj (with €110,000); Pirates (France/Greece) by Myriam Gharbi (with €85,000).

Regarding the documentaries supported, the titles are Fiume o Morte (Croatia/Italy/Slovenia) by Croatia's Igor Bezinović (with €140,000), Jan Mancuska: You Will Never See It All (Czech Republic/Slovakia) by Czech Republic's Štěpán Pech (with €30,000), The Total Trust (Germany/Netherlands) by US-Chinese director Jialing Zhang (with €150,000) and Sailing off the Edge (Canada/France) by Canada's Virginia Tangvald (with €140,000).

The animation films backed are Allah is not Obliged (France/Luxembourg/Belgium) (read news) by France's Zaven Najjar  (with €470,000), Chicken for Linda! [+see also:
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film profile] (France/Italy) by Italian-French duo Chiara Malta - Sebastien Laudenbach (with €115,000), Fox and Hare Save the Forest (Netherlands/Belgium/Luxembourg) by Dutch director Mascha Halberstad (with €325,000) and Nowhere [+see also:
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film profile] (Italy/Switzerland) by Italy's Simone Massi (with €290,000), as well as omnibus film Tales from the Magic Garden [+see also:
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interview: David Súkup
film profile] (Czech Republic/France/Slovakia/Slovenia) directed by Patrik Pašš Jr., Leon Vidmar, David Súkup and Jean-Claude Rozec (with €380,000)

The fund's board of management also adopted the 2022 budget of €415,000 for the Promotion Support Programme. This covers the renewal of 7 Eurimages Co-production Development Awards of €20,000 each and 9 sponsoring partnerships for a total of €50,000 in addition to the participation of Eurimages in the Berlin, Cannes and Venice film markets. It also includes a financial participation of €70,000 towards the Eurimages Co-production Award at the European Film Awards (EFA).