Berlin’s WCF backs int’l pics1 min read
Reading Time: < 1 minuteFeature projects from Syria, Guatemala, Malaysia and Brazil are among the latest pics to win backing from the Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund.
The WCF has also announced an initiative to promote local cinema in a number of African countries.
Syrian helmer Meyar Al Roumi’s “Round Trip,” from Cologne-based Maranto Film, picked up €30,000 ($42,852), as did Julio Hernandez Cordon’s “Polvo” (Dust), from Guatemala’s Melindrosa Films, and Brazilian duo Clarissa Campolina and Helvecio Marins Jr.’s “Girimunho” (Swirl), from Brazil’s Teia Filmes and Germany’s Autentika Films.
Seng Tat Liew’s Malaysian production, “In What City Does it Live?” from Malaysia’s Everything Films, nabbed $71,438.
The WCF sifted through 135 submissions from 41 countries during their latest funding session.
In addition to the approximately $200,000 in production funds, the org also granted more than $32,000 in distribution coin to four international features. Among them is this year’s Berlinale winner “Nader and Simin, A Separation,” from Iranian director Asghar Farhadi.Others are “Un homme qui crie,” by Chadian director Haroun Mahamat-Saleh; Kyrgyz helmer Aktan Arym Kubat’s “The Light Thief” and “Huacho,” from Chile’s Alejandro Fernandez Almendras
