At the close of an intense day of pitching - with the Development Grant awarded within the 25th Arras Film Festival - the jury (Milja Mikkola, Dario Vecchiato and Laurent Danielou) of Arras Days’ 13th edition (read our report) chose to reward two projects.

The Main Grant (7,500 euros, put forth by the Arras Film Festival) went to A Brighter Word Than Bright by Turkey’s Belkis Bayrak (revealed in this year’s Toronto Discovery section, as well as in San Sebastián’s New Directors line-up via her first feature film Gülizar [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Belkıs Bayrak e Bekir Behrem
scheda film]). This new project revolves around Osman who is on trial for the tragic death of Ziya whom he met and befriended in the army. He takes the blame for a crime he didn’t commit in order to honour Ziya and her fiancé́, Yaren. But when Osman is released from prison, his new life is rocked when he meets Yaren once again. He finds himself forced to choose between forgetting and remembering… The film’s production is steered by Saba Film.

The second Development Grant (5,000 euros, put forth by the town of Arras) was awarded to Fleur de sel by Bulgarian director Nadejda Koseva (previously acclaimed for Irina [+leggi anche:
recensione
trailer
intervista: Martina Apostolova
scheda film] and The Trap [+leggi anche:
recensione
scheda film]). The story follows 30-year-old Nina, an arrogant film director who’s estranged from her family and who finds herself in rehab after a terrible accident. It’s here that she meets 50-year-old Irini, a salt flower harvester and self-proclaimed healer of questionable talent, who believes the body cannot be healed independently of the soul… Production falls to Art Fest Ltd.

The winners are as follows:

Main grant
A Brighter Word Than Bright - Belkis Bayrak
Production: Saba Film (Turkey)

Second grant
Fleur de sel - Nadejda Koseva
Production: Art Fest Ltd (Bulgaria)