Nader Takmil Homayoun’s Director’s Cut and Miguel Angel Jimenez’s Chaika took the top prizes.

French director Nader Takmil Homayoun’s Director’s Cut has won the $14,000 (Euros10,000) New Cinema Network (NCN) Focus Europe Best European Project Award, for a director’s second film in its development phase.

Director’s Cut competed with 14 other projects, in the Focus Europe section.

The Eurimages prestigious $ 42,000 (Euros 30,000) Co-Production Development Award, a new prize brought to NCN with this edition, went to Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez’s Chaika, which competed with 28 other projects in Focus Europe and the international string called The Circuit.

Both awards were decided by NCN’s selection committee, composed of Agora producer Simon De Santiago, Oscar winning producer Cedomir Kolar and Italian producer and script specialist Rosanna Seregni, while Peter Gustafsson additionally participated in the Eurimages award jury.

Directors’s Cut was selected “for its refreshing and sophisticated look at the Iranian reality through the eyes of a foreign character confronted with a complex world that is far from what he expected” while Chaika, set in a Russian context was selected for  “for its original and challenging story about forgotten people in the vast emptiness between Europe and Asia.” The jury also called Chaika “potentially a great film.”

Two projects also received special mentions:

Follow, Follow, Lead from Sweden’s Jens Jonsson focuses on a grieving woman’s involvement in a pyramid scheme. The jury selected the project for “it’s quirky and personal approach to the universal subject of the search for happiness. Jonsson, one of Sweden’s hottest talents, previously won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize for his 2008 film King Of Ping Pong. 

From Ireland, Stephen Burke’s Object’s Of Interest also received a jury mention for “its modern and sharp vision of Italian colonial past.”

Earlier this weekend, Turkish producer Zeynep Ozbatur, head of Zeynep Films in Istanbul, picked up the European Co Production award Prix Eurimages for an outstanding producer.

Zeynep’s recent credits include Three Monkeys and Climates from Nuri Nilge Ceylan. Zeynep will pick up the prize on December 4 in Tallinn, Estonia during the European Film Awards ceremony.

The Rome Film Festival wraps November 5.

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