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Georgian director Uta Beria’s Tear Gas won two of the nine prizes at the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s IFFR Pro awards on Wednesday night (February 5)
The winners were selected from 24 projects in development presented at CineMart and 12 projects in the Darkroom work-in-progress programme.
Tear Gas, a love story set amid violent demonstrations in Tbilisi and presented in the Darkoom programme, won the Outward Gaze award and the inaugural HBF empowerment award, worth €10,000 each. It is by produced by Anna Khazaradze, Nino Chichua and Guillaume Dreyfus.
The HBF empowerment award celebrates filmmakers working under politically challenging conditions or tackling urgent themes of freedom of expression, displacement, and human rights. The jury spoke of its “striking urgency, raw emotional depth, and fearless storytelling”.
Eurimages’ Innovation Award for a CineMart project in development, worth €20,000, went to One Charming Night, an ’Alice in Wonderland’-inspired surreal musical immersive experience by Robin Coops, produced by Corine Meijers.
Eurimages’ outreach award for Darkroom work-in-progress projects, worth €30,000, was won by ghost story Bloques Erráticos by Chile’s Thomas Woodroffe, produced by Rodrigo Díaz and Pascual Mena. It tells the story of the ghost of a cinematographer who breaks free after a century trapped within the glaciers of Patagonia.
The ArteKino International Award for a standout project to support its development, worth €6,000, was won by romantic drama Inbetween Worlds by Czech-Vietnamese filmmaker Diana Cam Van Nguyen, produced by Karolina Davidova and Jakub Viktorin.
The Filmmore Work-in-progress post-production zward, worth €5,000 for a Darkroom project, went to Wild Dogs Don’t Bite by Georgia’s Rati Oneli, produced by Rati Oneli, Evgeniia Marchenko, Archil Gelovani and Sergey Yakhontov.
The Filmmore post-production award, worth €5,000 for a CineMart project, was won by stop-motion fairytale The March Of The Sunflowers by Erik Ricco, produced by Ivan Melo.
The VIPO Award, dedicated to supporting Japan’s content industry internationally and worth €3,000, was won by Four Seasons In Java by Kamila Andini, produced by Ifa Isfansyah. It is the story of a woman’s journey in finding peace after being unjustly convicted of murdering a young man in self-defence..
The 4DR Studios award for best immersive project in CineMart went to Strata by Lilian Hess, produced by Marion Guth, while the 4DR Studios award for best immersive project in Darkroom was awareded to The Great Orator by Daniel Ernst, produced by Siuli Ko.
Head of IFFR Pro Marten Rabarts, said: “We’re delighted and proud to see the recognition the juries have given to the awarded projects which will only add to the momentum from CineMart and the Darkroom presence which all projects have experienced. Together with our delegates here for this vibrant edition in Rotterdam, they’ve opened conversations, found partners and moved their projects ever-closer to realisation.”
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