Upcoming projects from Romanian filmmaker Cristi Puiu and Laotian director Kiyé Simon Luang have won prizes at FIDLab, the co-production incubator of French festival FIDMarseille.
The 14th edition of the showcase, known for its focus on experimental documentary and fiction features, spread its awards of post-production prizes or residency places across all 11 selected projects.
Scroll down for full list of prizes
The Micro Climat Studios prize, offering a range of post-production services, went to MMXX, an ensemble drama from Romanian director Puiu. The film, which revolves around a therapist, her younger brother, husband and an organised crime investigator, is produced by Puiu’s own Mandragora as well as Budapest-based 2DB Films Studio.
It will mark the latest feature from the feted filmmaker, whose most recent feature, Malmkrog, opened the Berlinale’s Encounters strand in 2020 and won Puiu best director. The filmmaker, known as the godfather of Romania’s New Wave, previously won the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes with The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu in 2005.
The Mactari Prize, offering a mixing auditorium and sounds editing room worth €15,000, was awarded to Bamboo Flower by Luang, who was last at FIDMarseille in 2020 with romantic drama Goodbye Mister Wong. The upcoming project, at script stage, is produced by Thomas Ordonneau of France’s Shellac Sud. Ordonneau is a prolific producer of features including Miguel Gomes’ Arabian Nights trilogy and Pietro Marcello’s Martin Eden.
Budgeted at €1.2m, the story will entwine the romance of a female spy and military man in 1866 Laos with the discoveries of a mother and daughter who explore the jungles of northern Laos in present day. Bamboo Flower also won the Nebulae/Doclisboa prize, which will see the project invited to the 2022 industry platform at the festival in Portugal.
Documentary The Seasons, from French filmmaker Maureen Fazendeiro, picked up the Sublimages prize of subtitles into English, French or Spanish, and the Doc Alliance prize worth €5,000, which covers a full release on global VOD platform DAFilms for two years. The film is about the real and invented history of Portuguese region Alentejo, and the people who live there. Fazendeiro previously co-directed The Tsugua Diaries with Miguel Gomes, which played in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 2021.
Further awards saw the Video de Poche prize go to I Look Like My Mother, the feature directorial debut of Iranian trans filmmaker Amina Maher, produced by Germany’s Schuldenberg Films and Rmad. The film will retrace the trauma associated within the relationship with her mother, with whom she performed as a child in Abbas Kiarostami’s Ten, which played in Competition at Cannes in 2002. The prize includes colour grading and the creation of a DCP.
The 14th FIDLab ran from July 7-8 and was held as an in-person event for the first time since 2019 with the award ceremony taking place on the terrace of Marseille’s Fort Saint-Jean with all the project holders present.
FIDLab 2022 awards
Air France prize
The Christmas Card (US)
Dir. Lucy Kerr / Pro. Insufficient Funds, NSF
Casa de Velázquez/ECAM prize
Neverland (Fr)
Dir. Isabel Pagliai / Pro. 5A7 Films
Commune Image prize
Following The Sound (Jap)
Dir. Kyoshi Sugita / Pro. Longride
Culori prize
Echo (Can)
Dir. Joshua Bonnetta / Pro. Acephale Inc
Camargo Foundation prize
Se Van Sus Naves (Sp)
Dir. Óscar Vincentelli / Pros. Lejos Lejos, Sumendi
Kodak-Silverway prize
All The Renaults In The World (Ire)
Dir. Declan Clarke
Mactari prize
Bamboo Flower (Fr)
Dir. Kiyé Simon Luang / Pro. Shellac Sud
Micro Climat Studios prize
MMXX (Rom)
Dir. Cristi Puiu / Pro. Mandragora
Providenza prize
The Night Came About (Neth)
Dir. Mira Adoumier / Pro. Muyi Film
Sublimages prize
The Seasons (Fr-Port)
Dir. Maureen Fazendeiro / Pros. Norte Productions, O Som e a Fúria
Vidéo de Poche prize
I Look Like My Mother (Ger)
Dir. Amina Maher / Pros. Schuldenberg Films, Rmad
Doc Alliance prize
The Seasons (Fr-Port)
Dir. Maureen Fazendeiro / Pros. Norte Productions, O Som e a Fúria
Nebulae/Doclisboa prize
Bamboo Flower (Fr)
Dir. Kiyé Simon Luang / Pro. Shellac Sud
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