The third edition of the Darkroom showcase ran from 2-5 February, with the organisers having invited 12 projects (ten fiction features and two immersive projects) to the market. The IFFR event provided a platform tailored for recently or nearly finished projects seeking completion or gap funding, sales agents and festivals. Below, we zoom in on five particularly intriguing titles.

The Great Orator - Daniel Ernst (Netherlands)
The Great Orator is a VR simulation where a central figure, the Orator, shapes her speeches using the emotions and memories of her fully connected followers. The presence of the spectator is vital, as the Orator exists to be heard. The experience explores themes of populism, AI and the erosion of reality, where real and generated media become indistinguishable from one another.

Budgeted at €262,000, The Great Orator is in its final stages of production. The team is searching for funding to complete post-production, and for game publishers, festivals and cultural institutions for the distribution and presentation of the project. The financing needed is estimated to be around €25,000. The production company involved is K.O. Productions. Attached partners include the Netherlands Film Fund, the Creative Industries Fund, the Dutch Foundation for Literature, the Municipality of Den Haag and the Venice Gap-Financing Market.

Tear Gas by Uta Beria

Tear Gas - Uta Beria (Georgia/France/Germany)
In Georgia’s Tserovani IDP settlement, Elene resents her mother for leaving and stays with her military father. Her grandmother arranges a secret reunion at a protest in Tbilisi, hoping to repair their bond. As violence erupts, Elene’s father, unaware of their presence, prepares to intervene. Rejecting her mother, Elene is drawn to activist Andro. When the protest escalates, their family conflicts collide in the chaos. This is the premise of the project, which scooped two industry prizes: the HBF Empowerment Award and the Outward Gaze Award, sponsored by the PJLF Arts Fund (see the news).

Beria commented: “The characters in my film are victims of political forces, but they are also active participants in them. The film blends real events from Georgia’s history with a contemporary narrative. The central character, 16-year-old Elene, symbolises the future that people in Georgia, especially those in the Tserovani IDP settlement, care about.

“Their story is one of a society losing its future, a tale of failed love, rebellion and tears. Elene’s defiance is not just directed against others, but against herself – an expression of the pain and loss that define this story,” she continued.

Tear Gas’s budget is €1,005,335, with a financing gap of €150,000. The feature is being produced by 1991 Productions alongside Tripode Productions and 70 Steps, which are serving as co-producers.

Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes - Gabriel Azorín (Spain/Portugal)
“Last Night I Conquered the City of Thebes finished principal photography at the end of 2024 and is currently in editing. We are looking for partners to help finance the rest of the post-production process. Also, we would love to find the right sales partner for the film in a context such as IFFR, which would help us position the movie for its festival premiere in late 2025 or early 2026,” reads the film’s status description.

The story begins when, one night, teenagers António and Jota visit ancient Roman baths in Spain. As António confesses his loneliness, they encounter Roman soldiers from 2,000 years ago, celebrating their last night before war. Among them, Aurelius and Pompey face a life-changing choice.

DVEIN Films is the leading production company, with Filmika Galaika and Bando à Parte co-producing. The ICAA Production Fund is also involved. The film’s budget stands at €1.7 million with a financing gap of €100,000.

Bayaan by Bikas Ranjan Mishra

Bayaan - Bikas Ranjan Mishra (India)
A young, female detective must stand up to her own father, her greatest hero, to bring a powerful and corrupt godman to justice. “Bayaan is the story of a clash between the values of a modern democratic state and a traditional society that believes in the supremacy of an ancient religious order based on patriarchy. This conflict plays out at multiple layers in the story: a daughter asserting her individuality to her father, a female officer claiming her agency over the case that she investigates, and the women in a society deeply entrenched in patriarchy struggling to stand tall and speak up for themselves,” Ranjan Mishra wrote his director’s notes.

Shot on location in a realistic style with non-professional actors and members of the local community as protagonists, Bayaan is budgeted at €1,706,226 and is seeking an additional €284,371. It is being produced by Platoon One Films and co-produced by Summit Studios. The Hubert Bals Fund, a funding initiative run by IFFR, is supporting the project, and Bayaan is looking for partners worldwide. The rough cut has already been completed, an edit lock will be done by mid-February 2025, and the first print will be finished by mid-April this year.

Sorella di Clausura - Ivana Mladenovic (Romania/Serbia/Italy/Spain)
Stela, a 36-year-old woman obsessed with a certain Serbian musician since childhood, is injured at one of his concerts. She curses him in frustration, but when he suffers a similar injury, she believes her curse has worked and tries to reach him, although others dismiss her as mentally unstable. The only one who helps her is Vera, a pop singer who once collaborated with the musician. She urges Stela to write a book in order to stand out among the fans and introduces her to a more liberal lifestyle. However, Stela, who is deeply religious, struggles with these changes.

This is the synopsis of the feature helmed by Ivana Mladenovic, who added: “In this world of precarious dreams, Sorella di Clausura is a bittersweet comedy of manners about people trying – and often failing – to reconcile their desires for magic and absolute love with the unforgiving realities of a crumbling economic system.” The film is in search of an international sales agent as well as festival programmers, distributors, streamers and broadcasters. MicroFILM is producing with Dunav 84, Nightswim and Boogaloo Films serving as co-producers.