The Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) is the international co-financing arm of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), supporting filmmakers from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe.
The initiative brings in European minority co-producers to help finance and complete those films. The latest round awards €60,000 each.
Of note, with respect to this platform's focus:
HBF+EUROPE: MINORITY CO-PRODUCTION SUPPORT
- "Don't Let the Sun Go Up On Me" — dir. Asmae El Moudir | Morocco/France/Norway/Denmark/Chile | Applicant producer: Haut et Court Doc, France | A hybrid documentary following Meriem, who carries forward the dreams of her late sister Fatimazahra — a woman with xeroderma pigmentosum who lived nocturnally. El Moudir's debut "The Mother of All Lies" took the Directing Prize in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2023.
- "The Last Tears of the Deceased" — dir. Beza Hailu Lemma | Ethiopia/Canada/Germany/France | Applicant producer: Die Gesellschaft DGS, Germany | A dreamlike journey across Ethiopia in which a newly ordained priest sets out to uncover the truth about his own childhood death. Lemma's short "Alazar" (2024) premiered at Cannes Critics' Week and won awards at the Red Sea Film Festival and FESPACO.
HBF+EUROPE: POST-PRODUCTION SUPPORT
- "Dear Ajayi" — dir. Damilola Orimogunje | Nigeria/Germany | Applicant producer: Mayana Films, Germany | Set in 1990s Nigeria, two estranged sisters caring for their paralyzed mother navigate grief, ambition, and fractured family bonds. Orimogunje's debut, "For Maria Ebun Pataki," premiered at Film Africa 2020 and won an Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Award.
Projects to anticipate!
