IFFR Pro winners for 2023 announced

Winners in alphabetical order:

• Anti-Muse, Baloji, Belgium, winner of the 4DR Studios Award
• Consider Vera, Marina Stepanska, Ukraine, winner of the ArteKino International Award and the Eurimages Special Co-production Development Award
• Eldorado, Alaa Eddine Aljem, Morocco, France, winner of the Wouter Barendrecht Award
• Redoubt, John Skoog, Sweden, winner of the Filmmore Post-production Award
• The Surrogate, Ali Jaberansari, Mexico, United Kingdom, winner of the IFFR Pro Young Selectors Award
• Testa o croce?, Alessio Rigo de Righi, Matteo Zoppis, Italy, France, winner of the Eurimages Co-production Development Award
• When the Kids Sing the Hits, Mina Djukic, Serbia, Montenegro, winner of the VIPO Award

Read below for more details of the awards.

“Absurd, satirical, brave and magical – congratulations to all our award-winners!”

"Following two online editions," says head of IFFR Pro Inke Van Loocke, “gathering industry attendees, decision makers, producers and filmmakers for CineMart’s 40th edition proves the continued value in exchange of ideas and collaboration towards realising these irresistible projects. Absurd, satirical, brave and magical – congratulations to all our award-winners!”

Find out the winners below! 

IFFR Pro 2023 winners in full:

Eurimages Co-production Development Award

Eurimages is the cultural fund of the Council of Europe dedicated to supporting independent filmmaking. The Eurimages Co-production Development Award is an annual prize of €20,000 given to a CineMart project to support its set-up as a European co-production. 

Winner: Testa o croce?, Alessio Rigo de Righi, Matteo Zoppis, Italy, France. Produced by: Ring Film, Shellac Sud

Jury statement: “A powerful love story that takes us into a world of magic and legends that we rarely see nowadays. In a refreshing genre with strong vision, it’s an inspiring archetypal story that brings the emancipation of the woman in the wild mens’ world – a story about violence, mystery, freedom, injustice, and friendship. Given the creative team behind the project we are confident that the film has the potential to be a successful international co-production and become a true audience favourite!”

Jury: Ilse Ronteltap, Mira Staleva, Konstantina Stavrianou

Eurimages Special Co-production Development Award

A second Eurimages award of the same amount worth €20,000.

Winner: Consider Vera, Marina Stepanska, Ukraine. Produced by: ESSE Production House

Jury statement: “Consider Vera is a strong story of three women dealing with their own powers in a repressed society. This award will enable the company to continue the development of the script and find co-production partners.”

Jury: Ilse Ronteltap, Mira Staleva, Konstantina Stavrianou

Filmmore Post-production Award

Amsterdam-based Filmmore is a leading full-service post-production, editing and visual effects facility. With the Filmmore Post-production Award they offer the best-suited CineMart project €7,500 worth of in-kind support. 

Winner: Redoubt, John Skoog, Sweden. Produced by: Plattform Produktion, BCD Film

Jury statement: “This film, shot in black & white, has a strong visual look. The story about the reclusive Karl Goran who builds his own fortress (for himself, but also his community) presents interesting themes: about being an outsider, obsession, a will to survive in scary times and to deal with each other in a small rural community. We liked the team of the producer and director and are very interested to see this project on a big screen.” 

Jury: Annamaria Lodato, Patrick Mao Huang, Marcel Wijninga

ArteKino International Award

The ArteKino International Award is a prize of €6,000 for the producer of a standout project to support its development, sponsored by the European culture channel ARTE’s foundation for the promotion of arthouse cinema. 

Winner: Consider Vera, Marina Stepanska, Ukraine. Produced by: ESSE Production House

Jury statement: “We decided to give our award to a brave and gifted woman director who, in spite of the difficult times her country is going through, is not willing to stop filmmaking. We found her project interesting because it does not deal with everything we look at in the news, it deals with the past of her country and with a group of women, young and old, who do not need men to know what they have to do and where they have to be. Ultimately, it deals with a little girl whose life is going to change completely.”

Jury: Annamaria Lodato, Patrick Mao Huang, Marcel Wijninga

Wouter Barendrecht Award

This prize of €5,000 is awarded in partnership with the Wouter Barendrecht Film Foundation in honour of the late founder and co-chairman of Fortissimo Films, IFFR programmer and former head of CineMart, Wouter Barendrecht. Eligible for the award are projects with a director under 35 who has not directed more than three films. 

Winner: Eldorado, Alaa Eddine Aljem, Morocco, France. Produced by: Le Moindre Geste, In Vivo Films

Jury statement: “We found ourselves very much attracted to the absurdist and humoristic approach to an intense, distressing and upsetting subject. After viewing the previous work we are convinced that the combination of the story’s harsh reality and perhaps satirical humour will appeal to a wide audience. We are sure that the grant shall be well spent on further development.”

Jury: Ellis Driessen, Nelleke Driessen

VIPO Award

The Visual Industry Promotion Organization works to make Japan’s content industry internationally competitive by connecting and expanding businesses and opportunities. Brand new for 2023, VIPO sponsors an award of €3,000 given to an outstanding project of their choice. 

Winner: When the Kids Sing the Hits, Mina Djukic, Serbia, Montenegro. Produced by: Sense Production, Adriatic Western

Jury statement: “The director's vision was clear and highly feasible, presenting a fascinating plot in precise style.” 

Jury: Kousuke Ono, Yoshi Yatabe

4DR Studios Award

4DR Studios is a volumetric video capture studio based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Representatives present the 4DR Studios Award to an outstanding Immersive project presented at CineMart, which receives an in-kind studio or workshop prize. 

Winner: Anti-Muse, Baloji, Belgium. Produced by: Amok, Wrong Men

Jury statement: “Anti-Muse has a very urgent topic: Belgium (just like the Netherlands) coming to terms with a very dark past (if that’s even possible). In our view the team is still very much investigating the best forms to address this topic, but they bring some elements that really click well with volumetric capture, like real characters and awesome fashion design. With this prize we encourage the team to join us in investigating this technology.”

Jury: Natasja Paulssen and Steye Hallema

IFFR Pro Young Selectors Award

IFFR Young Selectors are creative and ambitious Rotterdammers who offer film tips, curate events and promote the festival to local audiences. For this edition, they’ve chosen the CineMart title they’d most like to see come to fruition. The project receives a €2,500 prize.

Winner: The Surrogate, Ali Jaberansari, Mexico, United Kingdom. Produced by: The Lift, Here & There Productions

Jury statement: “We chose this film because we think its themes and absurdism will not only resonate with a broad audience, but especially with our generation trying to navigate a world that’s getting more and more bizarre. The team of this film had a convincingly relevant vision, that we believe tells the neglected viewpoint of those central to unequal power dynamics.” 

Jury: Ife Carter, Lena Keesen, Jip Moeken, João Pedrozo

IFFR Pro Award winners 2023

Consider Vera director Marina Stepanska receives her awards

IFFR Pro Award winners 2023 ©JandeGroen