Nov 24, 2023
Current Funding Recommendations for Production and Distribution / WCF Europe–TFL Audience Design Award

In the 39th jury session of the Berlinale World Cinema Fund (WCF), the juries made 14 funding recommendations for projects from Argentina, Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Mozambique, Nigeria, the Republic of Belarus, Rwanda, Senegal and Thailand. The current funding pot of eleven production and three distribution grants amounts to a total of 360,000 euros. The WCF is pleased to be able to support independent cinema even more strongly and to promote the visibility of the cultural complexity of our world.

“Looking at the outcome of the most recent WCF jury meeting, we are amazed: these future films display strength, courage and astonishing creativity. Most of the funded WCF projects delve deep into our world and its multifaceted complexity: Cinematic views of a world that is hard to decipher, often with characters who may live a long way away from us and yet seem very familiar. This is cinema as empathy and empathy as a cross-border take on life. We are delighted to support these projects,” comments Vincenzo Bugno, head of WCF, on the funding recommendations.

The Funding Recommendations in the 39th Jury Session

The WCF jury made its selection from 194 submitted projects from a total of 62 countries. The funding recommendations encompass funding in the amount of 360,000 euros.
The members of the jury are the documentary film producer and documentary creative advisor Marta Andreu (Spain), the director, screenwriter and producer Ayşe Polat (Germany), film scholar and curator Viola Shafik (Germany / Egypt) and Vincenzo Bugno (Italy / Germany), the head of the WCF. Additionally, the jurors for WCF Africa are the producer, festival director of the pan-African film festival FESPACO and the Berlin festival Afrikamera, Alex Moussa Sawadogo (Burkina Faso) and the filmmaker and curator Dorothee Wenner (Germany).

Production Funding WCF

Demba, director: Mamadou Dia (Senegal). Production: Joyeddi Sarl (Senegal), Maba Ba, NiKo Film (Germany), Nicole Gerhards. Feature film.
Funding: €35,000

The Misterious Gaze of the Flamingo, director: Diego Céspedes (Chile). Production: Quijote Films & Rampante (Chile), Giancarlo Nasi. Feature film.
Funding: €34,000

Nunkui, director: Verenice Benítez (Ecuador). Production: Caleidoscopio Cine (Ecuador), Isabela Parra. Feature film.
Funding: €30,000

Talitha Kumi, director: Hadar Morag (Israel). Production: Medalia Productions (Israel), Hilla Medalia; Maze Pictures (Germany), Caroline Daube. Feature film.
Funding: €40,000

A Useful Ghost, director: Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke (Thailand). Production: 185 Films Co (Thailand), Cattleya Paosrijaroen. Feature film.
Funding: €35,000
'The director participated in Berlinale Talents in 2021.

Zone|Myth, director: Darya Yurkevich (Republic Belarus). Production: AN|DA Film (Republic Belarus), Darya Yurkevich; Doppelplusultra (Germany), Frank Müller. Documentary form.
Funding: €35,000

WCF Europe

Boomerang, director: Shahab Fotouhi (Iran). Production: Rainy Pictures (Iran), Majib Barzegar; New Matter Films (Germany), Mariam Shatberashvili. Feature Film.
Funding: €30,000

Inside the Noise, director: Martina Juncadella (Argentina). Production: Una Presencia (Argentina), Julieta Juncadella; House on Fire (France), Vincent Wang. Feature film.
Funding: €30,000

WCF Africa

Minimals in a Titanic World, director: Philbert Aime Mbabazi Sharangabo (Rwanda). Production: Imitana Productions (Rwanda), Philbert Aime Mbabazi Sharangabo. Feature Film.
Funding: €25,000
The director participated in Berlinale Talents in 2020.

The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder, director: Inadelso Cossa (Mozambique). Production: 16mm Filmes (Mozambique), Inadelso Cossa; Kaske Films (Germany), Thomas Kaske. Documentary form.
Funding: €25,000
The director participated in Berlinale Talents in 2015.

Distribution Funding for Cinema Release in Germany

Augure (Omen), director: Baloji (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Distribution: Grandfilm. Feature film.
German cinema release: April 4, 2024.
Funding: €8,000

Mami Wata, director: C.J. “Fiery” Obasi (Nigeria). Distribution: Cinemalovers e.V.. Feature film.
German cinema release: January 11, 2024.
Funding: €3,000

Distribution Funding WCF Europe

Eureka, director: Lisandro Alonso (Argentina). World Sales: Filmgarten (Austria). Distribution: Filmgarten (Austria); Grandfilm (Germany) und LAT-E (Argentina). Feature film.
German cinema release: March 21, 2024.
Funding: €30,000

WCF Europe–TFL Audience Design Award

The WCF also awarded the WCF Europe–TFL Audience Design Award, in cooperation with the TorinoFilmLab (TFL) which is organised by The National Museum of Cinema. The award consists of a dedicated programme of consultancy on audience design, provided by internationally recognised experts chosen by TorinoFilmLab. The award goes to:

Muchachos bañándose en el lago, director: Michael Labarca (Venezuela). Production: Todos los Ríos (Venezuela), Patricia Ramírez-Arévalo; Ticket Shoot Films (France), René Osi. Feature film.
The project was recommended for WCF funding in July 2023.

Since 2004, the Berlinale World Cinema Fund has been successfully supporting film production in regions characterised by an insufficient film infrastructure by virtue of its increasingly differentiated funding programme (WCF, WCF Europe, WCF Africa, WCF ACP) and advocating cultural diversity in German cinemas. The cooperation between production companies from the production regions or countries and German / European production companies is supported as well: General information on the WCF funding.

The World Cinema Fund is an initiative of the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the Berlin International Film Festival, in cooperation with the German Federal Foreign Office and with further support by the Goethe-Institut.
The special WCF Europe programme was launched with the support of the European Union's Creative Europe MEDIA programme. Thanks to additional funding from the German Federal Foreign Office, the special programme WCF Africa was started in 2016.

The complementary programme WCF ACP is funded with the financial contribution of the European Union and the support of the Organisation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States through the ACP-EU Culture Programme.

Press Office
November 24, 2023