Six international and five Dutch projects in development, as well as three works-in-progress, have been selected for the first BoostNL programme that kicks off at the Netherlands Film Festival’s Holland Film Meeting in Utrecht (Sept 22-25) and continues through to International Film Festival Rotterdam’s CineMart 2017 (Jan 29-Feb 1).

The initiative, first reported in May, is designed to strengthen market assistance for international projects that have already received support from the Hubert Bals Fund or have previously been presented at CineMart, as well as Dutch projects in development.

Throughout BoostNL, project participants will benefit from ongoing guidance, whether in terms of business planning or creative decision-making, and participants will be encouraged to incorporate inspired feedback into their project.

One-on-one sessions with key international mentors will deliver bespoke festival, sales and marketing strategies that will support the project through all stages of development, from advanced script to post-production stage to marketing and distribution.

The international projects include UK film Tehran, City of Love, directed by Ali Jaberansari and produced for Here and There Productions by Babak Jalali - Tiger competition winner at IFFR with Radio Dreams earlier this year -. The project received HBF script and development support in Spring 2015.

Dutch project Jade is auteur Sacha Polak’s first English-language film, and her third collaboration with producer Marleen Slot of Viking Film.

BoostNL Selection 2016

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT

- Bootlegger (Canada) - Directed by: Caroline Monnet / Producer: Catherine Chagnon / Production company: Microclimat Films
- The Bridge (Egypt) - Directed by: Hala Lotfy / Producer: Mohamed Samir / Production company: DayDream Art Production
- Jessica (Sweden) - Directed by: Ninja Thyberg / Producer: Erik Hemmendorff / Production company: Plattform Produktion
- Loveling (Brazil) - Directed by: Gustavo Pizzi / Producer: Tatiana Leite / Production company: Bubbles Project
- The Reports on Sarah and Saleem (Palestina) - Directed by: Muayad Alayan & Rami Alayan / Production company: PalCine Productions
- Tehran, City of Love (UK) - Directed by: Ali Jaberansari / Producer: Babak Jalali / Production company: Here & There Productions

DUTCH PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT

- Dreamscape - Directed by: Anna van der Heide / Scriptwriter: Tijs van Marle / Producer: Iris Otten / Production company: Pupkin Film
- In the Arms of Morpheus - Directed by: Marc Schmidt / Producers: Janneke Doolaard, Hanneke Niens & Hans de Wolf / Production company: KeyDocs
- Jade - Directed by: Sacha Polak / Producer: Marleen Slot / Production company: Viking Film
- Quicksand - Directed by: Margot Schaap / Producer: Ellen Havenith / Production company: PRPL
- Totem - Directed by: Sander Burger / Scriptwriter: Bastiaan Tichler / Producer: Denis Vaslin / Production company: Volya Films

WORKS-IN-PROGRESS

- Charlie and Hannah’s Grand Night Out (Belgium) - Directed by: Bert Scholiers / Producers: Tomas Leyers, Marc Goyens / Production company: Minds Meet
- Mormaço (Brazil) - Directed by: Marina Meliande / Producer: Leonardo Mecchi / Production company: Enquadramento Produçoes
- Quality Time (Netherlands) - Directed by: Daan Bakker / Producer: Iris Otten / Production company: Pupkin Film

CineMart’s Marit van den Eshout said: “There is a strong interest on our part to do more for projects throughout the year, especially for those that we have already invested in via the Hubert Bals Fund and CineMart.

“The BoostNL programme allows us to really follow through in terms of their development and it marks a first very concrete step which can offer real value to each project, and the producers can benefit greatly from the partnership support that we will offer.”