Hubert Bals Fund celebrates first reunion at IFFR 2026

On 2 February 2026, during IFFR 2026, the Hubert Bals Fund held its first ever Reunion Day. The landmark event united filmmakers from decades and continents across the Fund’s history for a day of reflection, discussion and knowledge sharing, providing a priceless moment of connection, solidarity and laying the foundations for a valuable annual fixture. Attendees represented HBF-supported filmmakers from Afghanistan, Albania, Brazil, India, the Philippines, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Syria, Thailand, Ukraine, Yemen and beyond, reflecting the breadth of support the HBF has championed over 35 years.

Dr Natalie Sabanadze – senior research fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House – offered the first session with Beyond Certainty: Film, Power, and Political Meaning: a conversation about what cinema can do when old certainties collapse, institutions fail and narratives are silenced – and what responsibilities filmmakers hold in that space.

Rikke Flodin from Publikum, the Danish audience design service, led Beyond Attention: Film, Audiences and Trust: how films find their audiences in an oversaturated media environment, and how to build trust and relevance without compromising values. 

Flodin’s presentation marked the launch of the HBF x Publikum Audience Outreach Award, presented at the IFFR Pro Awards Ceremony on 4 February. It provides €9,000 worth of tailored consultancy to a project from the CineMart x HBF selection at IFFR Pro’s co-production market. It focuses on strengthening audience awareness for projects in development, with the inaugural 2026 winner being Coumba by Senegalese Mamadou Dia and producer Eugénie Michel-Villette of Les Films du Bilboquet.

The award complements a second HBF-backed CineMart prize: the HBF Empowerment Award, worth €10,000, given to a Darkroom project to empower filmmakers who come from politically challenging contexts or whose work addresses themes such as freedom of expression, displacement, human rights and/or underrepresented communities. For 2026 the award went to Marina by Brazilian filmmakers Laís Santos Araújo and Pethrus Tibúrcio. 

The day closed with the Pro Hub panel Against the Current – Enabling Filmmakers from Restrictive Contexts. Moderated by Director of the Netherlands Film Fund Sandra den Hamer, it brought together Olivier Henrard (CNC), Tamara Tatishvili (HBF) and HBF Alumni filmmakers Maryna Er Gorbach (Ukraine), Tekla Machavariani (Georgia) and Aboozar Amini (Afghanistan / Netherlands) for a direct conversation about supporting creative work under political constraint or threat, and the role of international solidarity in keeping diverse voices in circulation.

The celebrations continued into the evening – first at Rotterdam City Hall, where Alderman for Education, Culture and Events Said Kasmi hosted a reception for the HBF community attended by key partners and supporters from across the ecosystem – among them Josephine Bourgois (Projeto Paradiso), who gave a short address, and Droom en Daad.

Other highlights for the Hubert Bals Fund at IFFR 2026 included the world premiere of the the Displacement Film Fund shorts, the Brazilian lunch also with the presence of HBF Alumnus Kleber Mendonça Filho, Rotterdam Lab case study on A Useful Ghost and HBF-supported Variations On A Theme winning the Tiger Award.