Some 32 audiovisual projects were submitted for scrutiny by the Film Fund’s selection committee, which sat last week to decide which films and series would receive financial support. The committee, presided by film critic Boyd van Hoeij and including Film Fund director Guy Daleiden, Gabriele Röthemeyer, Karin Schockweiler and Meinolf Zurhorst, chose 19 projects which will between them get a total of €9.999,579 in funding. The majority of that (€9.522,079) is dedicated to production costs while nine projects will receive a total of € 477,500 for script writing and development.

The films receiving production support include award-winning Israeli director Ari Folman for his Samsa Film animated feature “Where Is Anne Frank?”. Folman is no stranger to Luxembourg, having worked with Paul Thiltges Distribution on “The Congress” . Another director of international repute returning to work in Luxembourg is Joachim Lafosse, whose 2008 film “Nue propriété” was co-produced by Tarantula. This time the director of the unforgettable “À perdre la raison” will work with Samsa Film on another family drama, “Les Intranquilles”.

Local directing talent is also rewarded, with Nicolas Steil taking the helm of his own Iris Productions company’s “L’enfant cache” feature film, and both Cyrus Neshvad (who won best short at the Lëtzebuerg Film Praïs in 2018 for “Fils”) and Gintaré Parulyte getting funding for their latest short films.

Adolf El Assal gets to follow up his internationally acclaimed “Sawah” with new film “Hooped”, which has received development funding. Eileen Byrne, now based in Germany, can develop her children’s film “Bille & Zottel” and Laura Schroeder--whose “Barrage” was a hit at international festivals--has also received funding for her next project “Maret”. And Loïc Tanson also gets support for his long-awaited documentary “208” about the history of Radio Luxembourg.