9th La Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde Selection

Waited a couple of days to share the selection for the 2016 edition because organizers had to uncover a new website and yes, now is open, new and a lot easier to browse. Congrats to the Institut Français that by-the-way also has other programs to support cultural diversity like the Cinémathèque Afrique (African Film Archive) and Aide aux Cinémas du Monde (World Cinema Support), a fund which is co-managed with the CNC.

As not many are aware of this Festival de Cannes collateral event let's share some basics about the professional program.

La Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde is a professional program helping talented young directors from emerging countries increase their international exposure. Each year this program, developed by the Institut français, in partnership with France Médias Monde – RFI, France 24, Monte Carlo Doualiya- with the support of The International Organization of La Fancophonie, invites ten directors working on their first or second feature films to attend the Festival de Cannes along with their producers.

During work sessions, directors have the opportunity to discuss their project with the programme’s patron, an internationally renowned director. In addition, they have direct access to the festival’s different compétitive selections (La Semaine de la Critique, La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) and major Professional events and receive accreditation for the Marché du Film (Producers Network…). They also meet the French and international press accompanied by our press officer. Parati Films will coordinate this year’s Fabrique programme at the Festival de Cannes.

In 2016, six films that previously took part in the Fabrique program are ready for distribution at festivals and in theaters. This year, a partnership has been concluded with the Marché du Film's Doc Corner to showcase the Fabrique’s two documentary projects, and to assist directors and
producers with documentary experience.

This year, there were 130 applications for the Fabrique des Cinémas du Monde program. Ten (10) candidates were invited to Cannes to develop their projects: four (4) first feature films, six (6) second feature films, two (2) documentaries, four (4) director-producers, four (4) female directors and two (2) female producers. These projects, from ten countries with emerging film industries, offer powerful visions of enduring traditions and global evolution's. Four countries will be represented for the first time: Angola, Azerbaijan, Costa Rica and Zimbabwe.

These are the 10 projects that include 8 feature-films and 2 documentaries.

Angola: Girlie by Pocas Pascoal
Azerbaijan: Basket by Iman Hasanov
Brazil: The Fever by Maya Da-Rin
Costa Rica: Dirty River by Gustavo Fallas
Egypt: Amal by Mohamed Siam (documentary)
Georgia: Citizen Saint by Tinatin Kajrishvili
Iran: Yalda by Massoud Bakhshi
Morocco: Saint Unknown by Alaa Eddine Aljem
Philippines: A Wrong Season by Carlo Francisco Manatad
Zimbabwe: The Other Half of the African Sky by Tapiwa Chipfupa (documentary)

French industry press announced today that none other than Jia Zhang-ke is succeeding Claire Denis as the godfather (parrain) of the 2016 edition! News are not in the official site but as soon as they become available will update post.



To read about news in the official site go here, available in French and English. News are also at Institut Français official site here, available only in French as of today.

Below find info about the director and her/his project.

Amal by Mohamed Siam


Mohamed Siam is a director, producer and DOP. His previous projects have received support from international institutes such as the Sundance Institute and the IDFA Bertha Fund. He has taken part in the Berlinale and Durban Talents, won the AfriDocs prize at the Durban FilmMart and won the Robert Bosch Academy’s Film Prize in 2015 for his project Amal.

Synopsis: This documentary has followed a teenager for four years as she comes to terms with her identity and sexuality in a male-dominated society and post-revolutionary police state. Amal embodies the chaos reigning in Egypt, where the people try to fulfil their potential despite the authoritarian regime and political upheavals.



Basket by Iman Hasanov

Imam Hasanov is a young filmmaker from Baku, Azerbaijan. For many years, he directed television dramas. His first feature film, Holy Cow, premiered in the First Appearance Competition at IDFA in 2015. Imam is an active member of Baku’s underground scene and founded Azerbaijan’s first independent theatre. He has participated in the Sarajevo and Berlinale Talents.

Synopsis: Deep in the Caucasus Mountains, no one dares to disobey the ancient customs. To free their parents souls, children must abandon them at the mercy of vultures to be devoured. Sahran, the village’s teacher, disallows this funeral rite.



Citizen Saint by Tinatin Kajrishvili

Tinatin Kajrishvili was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1978. In 2001, she graduated from Georgia’s state theatre and film university as a qualified film director. In 2014, her first feature film Brides premiered and was awarded at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Synopsis: One day, the statue of a crucified saint comes to life. None of the investigators, government officials or locals know what to do with him. The Saint is accused of damaging artwork, ruining the city’s only tourist attraction and being a swindler. Everyone agrees: a saint’s place is on the cross. After interminable discussions, they put him back on his cross and crucify him again. Mary, an employee in a the city’s local museum, wants to protect him.



Girlie by Pocas Pascoal

Pocas Pascoal is Angola’s first camerawoman. She studied cinema in Paris before directing several documentaries and short films. Since 2002, she has participated in a number of contemporary art exhibitions. In 2012, she made her first feature film Alda and Maria, winning seven film festival awards.

Synopsis: Ema (6) lives with her father, a musician, in Lisbon. One day, during an authorised visit, her mother kidnaps her and takes her back to her home country, Cape Verde. Ema’s father attempts to find them, but her mother keeps running away. As Ema travels closer to the country’s heartland, she must face the solitude and mysteries of this new world.



Saint Unknown by Alaa Eddine Aljem

Alaa studied film at ESAV in Morocco and INSAS in Brussels. His films have been selected for festivals around the world, winning several awards. His most recent short film, The Desert Fish, won the critics’, screen-writing and grand prizes at the Moroccan National Film Festival. His first feature film project, Saint Inconnu, featured in the Open Doors section at Locarno Film Festival.

Synopsis: Amine, a thief who has stolen a large sum of money, escapes into the hills with the police hot on his heels. He buries the cash, hiding it under a makeshift tomb, before being arrested. Ten years later, he is released from prison and sets off in search of his money. Meanwhile, a shrine has been built where he buried it to honor an unknown saint.



The Fever by Maya Da-Rin

After studying design and the philosophy of art in Brazil, Maya Da-Rin graduated with honours from the French visual arts school Le Fresnoy. Her work has been shown at film festivals (Locarno) and museums (MoMA). She is working on her first feature, The Fever, selected for a Cinéfondation residence and Torino Script&Pitch, and supported by the Hubert Bals Fund.

Synopsis: Manaus is an industrial city surrounded by the Amazon rainforest. Justino, a 45- year-old Amerindian, works as a security guard at a cargo port and lives with his daughter on the outskirts of town. When she decides to leave to study medicine in the capital, Justino is gripped by a mysterious fever. He believes he is being followed, but he is not sure whether it is by an animal or by a man.



A Wrong Season by Carlo Francisco Manatad

Carlo Francisco Manatad, born in Tacloban City, is an alumnus of the Asian Film Academy, the Berlinale Talent Campus and the DocNet Campus Project. His short film, Junilyn Has, screened at the Locarno and Clermont Ferrand film festivals and since then, has travelled the festivals circuit.

Synopsis: In autumn 2013, in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest typhoon in recorded history, the jail warden temporarily releases the prisoners so they can tend to their families during the disaster. Miguel, one of the released prisoners, looks for his mother and his ex-girlfriend to flee the city. When his mother decides to stay, Miguel’s freedom and life are put in jeopardy.



Yalda by Massoud Bakhshi

Massoud Bakhshi was born in Tehran. Between 1990 and 1998, he worked as a film critic, script writer and producer. He has made ten documentaries and one short film, which have received many prizes. His first feature film, A Respectable Family (distributed by Pyramide in France), was selected for the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 2012. Yalda is his second feature film.

Synopsis: Maryam (26) is “temporarily married” to Naser (65). She accidentally kills him, but is pregnant with his child. In Iran, only a victim’s family can pardon the killer. For Maryam, this pardon plays out on the country’s most popular reality show. She quickly realises that nothing is what it seems, including her own family. She must choose between her child and a pardon, in front of millions of viewers.



Dirty River by Gustavo Fallas

Gustavo Fallas, a director, producer and writer, was born in Costa Rica in 1974. He studied screenwriting at UQAM, Canada, before founding Centrosur, a production company that makes documentaries, music videos, commercials and fiction films. The film Puerto Padre received the Silver Zenith award for Best First Fiction Film at the Festival des Films du Monde de Montréal.

Synopsis: Río Sucio tells the story of the meeting of two strangers: an elderly hermit living alone in the mountains where he hates his only neighbor, and his 12-year-old grandson whose mother has left him in his grandfather’s care. During their time together, the grandfather teaches the boy how to survive life in the mountains, but he also learns a lesson about hate and its fatal consequences.



The Other Half of the African Sky by Tapiwa Chipfupa

An original, eclectic and creative filmmaker, Tapiwa Chipfupa worked on various projects in southern Africa before deciding to study. After gaining a Master’s degree from AFDA, Tapiwa received support from HotDocs (2016), Berlinale Talents (2015), Talents Durban (2013) and AfricaDocs (2010). Her projects have been acquired by broadcasters and won awards worldwide.

Synopsis: Estranged from her family by a dispute over her marriage, Tapiwa Chipfupa attempts to reconcile the situation through encounters with other Zimbabwean women from all walks of life also facing their own challenges. The film develops as a brutally honest story of Zimbabwe’s women that paints a vivid and intriguing portrait of contemporary Zimbabwe and its vast contradictions.