REPORT: CineMart 2025
- We present details of eight intriguing projects that are currently being presented at this year’s co-production market, which runs from 2-5 February in Rotterdam

This year’s CineMart is unspooling from 2-5 February. IFFR Pro’s co-production market is showcasing a total of 24 projects – broken down into 20 features and four immersive projects. We take a closer look at eight of them that are currently being introduced at the Rotterdam-based gathering.
Meat - Rioghnach Ni Ghrioghair (Ireland)
Staged by Deirdre Levins for Fantastic Films, this folk-horror tale is set during Ireland’s Great Famine. The plot revolves around a young girl who is taken in by a mysterious group of self-sufficient women, only to discover that their secret to survival is cannibalising the rich men of the nearby estate. The project is budgeted at €3,045,000, with backing from Screen Ireland, Creative Europe and the Irish Tax Credit Section 481. “The project is at the financing stage, with CineMart being its first market presentation. Our goal in attending CineMart is to meet with potential sales agents, distributors, financiers and co-producers,” says the creative team.
“Aesthetically, the film will be crafted with equal degrees of beauty and brutality, supported by a diverse cast, and it will be bilingual – in Irish and English. This is a lyrical, stark and painterly world punctuated by visceral, gnarly, brutal violence and sensual, feminine sexuality. My viewpoint as a storyteller has been shaped entirely by the violence that we, as human beings, commit in our society, both past and present,” writes Ni Ghrioghair in her director’s statement.

The Price of Gold - Eugen Jebeleanu (Romania)
Produced by microFILM and budgeted at €1,992,000, this pic based on the titular stage play follows a dancer called Sergiu, who grapples with shame over his budding attraction to the same sex while his father, Nicolae, battles severe depression. The delicate dependency between Sergiu’s success on the dance floor and Nicolae’s fragile state unfolds over the course of a decade, against the backdrop of 1990s post-communist Romania.
“The script is now at the second-draft stage, and we have already applied for production support in Romania. The development funding was secured through Creative Europe – MEDIA and local sources of support. Also, the project is currently undergoing intensive development as part of the ACE Annual Programme,” says the creative team, adding that they see the film as “a three-party co-production”; thus, they are looking for co-producers and hope to engage in early talks with sales agents, broadcasters and festivals.
Black Is Blue - Cheryl Dunye (USA/Germany/Greece)
“Against the dystopian backdrop of another Bay Area tech boom gone bust, this is an erotic tale of a black trans couple brought together by technology. Their tragic love story is witnessed by a bot who stands by – eager to learn and protect – until it is transformed by them,” reads the synopsis of this project, penned by the helmer together with Christina Anderson and budgeted at €2 million.
At CineMart, the team is looking for co-production partners, mainly in France and Greece, but also worldwide; they are also aiming to connect with European distribution companies and TV channels. Producing are Black is Blue LCC and Jingletown Films, with Jürgen Brüning Filmproduktion, Sima Films, Pinch Me Films and Chrysallis Productions.
How Melissa Blew a Fuse - Una Gunjak (Bosnia and Herzegovina/Croatia/Serbia)
The plot of this project centres on 42-year-old Melissa, a Bosnian in Dortmund who steals €200,000 from her workplace and hits the road. Determined to meet her online boyfriend on the Montenegrin coast, she stops in her hometown in Bosnia to show off, but has to flee when news of the robbery gets out. Only this time, she isn’t alone, as her 19-year-old niece, Mala, is pursuing her dreams as well. Budgeted at €1,559,084, the project is being staged by SCCA/pro.ba, Nukleus Film and Bas Celik Film House.
“We aim to finance Gunjak’s second feature as an international co-production. […] We are seeking collaborators in Germany, France or other high-capacity European countries. As a road movie, co-productions with Austria, Slovenia and Montenegro could leverage soft financing and incentives. Music is integral to the film, so we are also looking for a partner with access to diverse music catalogues. At CineMart, we are seeking co-producers, funds and distributors,” the producers say.

Marseille - Yim Brakel (Netherlands)
Brakel’s pic follows Kyu, a shy 12-year-old boy adopted from South Korea, who travels with his Dutch father Lenny, a non-conformist disruptor, to Marseille during the football World Cup of 1998, where the Netherlands will play against South Korea. The feature is budgeted at €3 million and is being produced by Labyrint Film with support from the Netherlands Film Fund.
The team has a script translated into English ready and is awaiting the outcome of two development funding applications. Plans for 2025 include finalising the shooting script, and conducting visual and production research trips. At CineMart, they are aiming to find co-producers, sales agents, distributors and festivals.

Inbetween Worlds - Diana Cam Van Nguyen (Czech Republic/Slovakia)
The story focuses on Mai, caught between her Vietnamese heritage and her Czech upbringing, who faces a life-altering choice when her parents arrange a marriage to save their family’s future. Torn between duty and desire, Mai must confront her identity, her love and her place in two different worlds.
The project is in late development and is now seeking financing. Work continues on the script, cast and visual techniques, with research under way for a shoot in Vietnam. The team is seeking partners for production, editing, sound design, animation and distribution, and is aiming to shoot by mid-2026 and complete by 2028. Staged by 13ka and nutprodukcia, the drama is budgeted at €2,074,800. The Czech Audiovisual Fund has granted it a €500,000 bursary, Cineuropa has learnt.

Strata - Lilian Hess (Luxembourg)
In this immersive project, glitter takes centre stage as a radiant protagonist, shedding its seemingly frivolous veneer to reveal its power. Through dazzling digital worlds and evocative soundscapes, participants navigate the layered connotations that glitter holds, engaging in a “mutual choreography of presence”. The team is now seeking production partners and financiers for this a_BAHN-produced project budgeted at €450,000.
Enkop - Angela Wanjiku Wamai (Kenya/Netherlands)
After her husband’s suicide, 55-year-old Lorna Marwa fights to reclaim her life on the dusty expanses of Kenya’s volatile ranch land. This is the premise of the drama being produced by LBx Africa together with PRPL.
Budgeted at €465,000, the project kicked off development in late 2023, with a first draft of the script and a lookbook already completed. Consultancy with a script doctor wrapped this month. With a Dutch co-producer secured, the team is seeking co-production partners from France, Germany and Norway, alongside international sales, aiming for production in early 2026.
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