The Berlinale World Cinema Fund (WCF) at its 37th jury session made 11 funding recommendations for projects from Argentina, Bangladesh, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Iran, Peru, Tunisia and Venezuela. The current funding amounts to a total of 440,000 Euros and the WCF stated that it is pleased to be able to support independent cinema even more strongly in times of crisis and to promote the visibility of the cultural complexity of our world. “More and more high-quality projects are being submitted to the WCF for documentary formats, with the trend also being confirmed by the results of this jury meeting. The submissions are deep and highly emotional projects that show, from various sides, a study of the reality of characters who feel instantly familiar, and who convey their cultural surroundings to us,” comments Vincenzo Bugno, head of WCF, on the funding recommendations. Bugno added that the WCF jury made its selection from 176 submitted projects from a total of 51 countries. The funding recommendations encompass funding in the amount of 440,000 Euros and projects recommended include projects by two directors that have participated in Berlinale Talents in the past, and one project that was presented at the Berlinale Co-Production Market in 2022.
The members of the jury are the documentary film producer and documentary creative advisor Marta Andreu (Spain), the producer Zsuzsanna Kiràly (Germany / Austria), 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 Berlinale delegate for Sub-Saharan Africa Dorothee Wenner (Germany). Two of the funded production projects are The Difficult Bride, director: Rubaiyat Hossain (Bangladesh). Production: Khona Talkies (Bangladesh), Aadnan Imtiaz Ahmed. Feature film. Funding: €50,000. The project participated in the Berlinale Co-Production Market in 2022 and the director participated in Berlinale Talents in 2017. The second project is Le Fardeau, director: Elvis Ngaïbino (Central African Republic). Production: Makongo Films (Central African Republic), Vicky Nelson Wackoro; Kiripi Films (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Dieudo Hamadi. Documentary form. Funding: €30,000. Intended additional funding by WCF ACP: €60,000
