HBF+Brazil: Co-development Support

Number of projects

• Total of up to 9 projects selected.

Geographical eligibility

• Projects have to be directed by a Brazilian citizen; permanent residents are not eligible;
• Projects have to be produced by a Brazilian production company. 

Final grant configuration

• Up to 2 grants to projects from a director and a production company, both residing in the city of Rio de Janeiro;
• Up to 2 grants to projects from a director and a production company, both residing in the city of São Paulo;
• Up to 2 grants to projects from a director outside of the city of Rio de Janeiro, but with a production company attached based in the city of Rio de Janeiro;
• Up to 2 grants to projects from a director outside of the city of São Paulo, but with a production company attached based in the city of São Paulo;
• Up to 1 national project, from a director and a production company, both from outside of the cities of Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo.

General eligibility criteria

• The HBF+Brazil: Co-development Scheme has a focus on full-length feature projects by second and third time filmmakers, and does not accept applications from debut filmmakers. The application should therefore represent the second or third full-length fiction feature project by the filmmaker.
• The HBF+Brazil: Co-development Scheme is aimed at supporting projects in their initial stage of development (script development, scriptwriting, research, concept building), with no need for any minimum financing to be already in place.
• The projects need to have a production company attached, which will be the applicant and receive the grant. Co-productions are eligible provided they are a Brazilian majority. 
• Singular artistic merit of a project remains the main focus in the assessment process. Additionally the selection committee will also take into consideration its originality, production feasibility, cultural significance and (international) co-production potential. 
• Debut projects, documentaries, shorts and films specially made for television are not taken into consideration.
• If this project represents your third fiction feature, but you have also directed one or more feature-length documentary features that have been theatrically released or festival-selected, then we consider that you are too experienced and your project is unfortunately not eligible.
• Co-directed projects are eligible, provided both directors are Brazilian citizens and have both (co-)directed 1 or 2 full-length feature projects.
• Applications should be written in English.
• Each applicant (producer) is allowed to submit a maximum of one project per annual round.
• The selection committee’s decisions cannot be appealed.
• No feedback can be provided to the rejected applications.
• For the 2025 pilot edition, only projects having applied to the 2025 edition of the HBF Development Fund (deadline 13 March) and having been rejected, are eligible to apply to the HBF+Brazil: Co-development Scheme. If a project applied to 2024 or any other previous editions, it is not eligible.
• Projects which meet previous eligibility criteria and have some development funding secured from either Projeto Paradiso, RioFilme or Spcine (partners of this initiative) or from other institutions are allowed to apply.
• Projects which meet previous eligibility criteria and have some production funding secured from either Projeto Paradiso, Riofilme or SpCine (partners of this initiative) or others, are allowed to apply provided the secured production funding does not exceed 20% of the total budget.
• The project applicant is asked to sign and submit, as part of the application form, a signed declaration of eligibility, governed by Dutch law.

The deadline is 15 September 2025 at 23.59 CEST.

The selection procedure for HBF+Brazil: Co-development Support applications are divided into two phases.

Phase 1:

• Please read the HBF+Brazil: Co-development Support Regulations on the HBF website carefully.
• The application form will be available one week prior to the deadline. If you do not have an account yet, make sure to register first. The application form includes detailed project information. Information in the form is saved automatically. For an overview of what information is requested, see below under “Application materials”.
• It is not possible to edit the form after you have submitted it. Once the form is submitted, it is not possible to ask the HBF team to receive a copy of the submitted materials. Therefore, it is strongly advised that project teams hold a copy of their application in their administration.
• The HBF+Brazil: Co-development Support selection committee will reach a decision on all submitted forms up to eight weeks after the deadline. The pre-selection results will be announced via e-mail. 

Phase 2:

• If your project has been pre-selected, you are notified by email by the HBF team. You are given one week to submit your full dossier in PDF, including previous work (online streaming), via dedicated submission link online. It is not possible to extend this one week period. For more details on what to include in the dossier, please see below section “Application materials”.
• The HBF+Brazil: Co-development Support selection committee will reach a decision on all submitted projects within four months after the application deadline.
• Updates on the phase 2 are published in the HBF+Brazil: Co-development Support webpage.

Phase 1

The Hubert Bals Fund application form allows applicants to submit detailed information about their project. The form is available one week before the deadline. The following information is required in the form:

• General info: title, production country/ies, type of film.
• Film credits: name and contact details of director, and if applicable, of (co-)producer, writer, financier, sales agent.
• A declaration of eligibility signed by the producer (see template attached in the application form).
• Technical info: running time, shooting format, colour/b&w, languages;
• Financial info: total budget (in Euro), financing already secured (it is possible to add an explanation in the Remarks field).
• Project info: logline (max. 60 words), synopsis (max 500 words), director’s statement (max 1,500 words), sold territories, link to maximum 2 previous works, most successful recent festival selections and awards for director and producer (list max. 3 titles).
• If a project gets preselected, the submitted project dossier must include details on IP ownership and/or a deal memo.
• Insights on Development Status (confirmed financing, labs/markets attendance etc).

Phase 2

Within eight weeks after the deadline, the HBF selection committee will reach a decision on all submissions. Projects will receive an e-mail notification informing them if they will proceed to the next round, with the request to submit their full dossier. 

For those that proceed, you have one week to submit the complete dossier after notification, via the instructions shared by the HBF team. It is not possible to extend this one week period, therefore we recommend that you make sure you have the materials available.

The following materials should be included in the project dossier:

• Synopsis (max. 2 pages).
• Treatment (max. 12 pages, sending in a script instead of a treatment is not allowed).
• Directors biography and filmography (max 2 pages)
• Director’s statement (max. 2 pages)
• Director’s visual concept and artistic approach (max. 2 pages)
• Producer’s biography and filmography (max 2 pages)
• Producer’s statement (max. 2 pages)
• Details and/or deal memo on intellectual property ownership
• Budget for script and project development phase
• Financial plan for total production
• Written explanation on finance strategy (max. 1 page)
• Development schedule
• Previous audiovisual of the director: online available on streaming platform until the end of December (ex. Vimeo or YouTube, accessible without account)
• Optional: visual reference material (moodboard, teaser, reference pictures: max. 5 pages)

As well as:

• If the director is based in Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo cities, two proofs of residency are required to assess the eligibility: e.g. water, electricity, gas, internet or telephone bills, or bank statement: the first one should refer to 2 years ago and the other one should be more recent. In accordance with GDPR, such personal information will be deleted once the selection process is finalised.
• Proof of company registration under CNPJ – Cadastro Nacional de Pessoas Jurídicas.

Besides the page restriction for some documents, there are no specific requirements regarding dossier format, font (size) and spacing. These materials should be compiled into one PDF document. All materials should be written in English. 

Only complete dossiers will be taken into consideration.

Founded in 1992, RioFilme is the municipal public company that supports the audiovisual sector in Rio de Janeiro. Its mission is to foster the sector’s development across the entire value chain, strengthening both the city’s economy and cultural identity. Rio Film Commission supports Brazilian and international producers who want to shoot in the city.

Spcine is a public company based in São Paulo, Brazil, dedicated to fostering the audiovisual sector, linked to the Municipal Secretariat of Culture and Creative Economy of the City of São Paulo. It operates as a development agency, funding and implementing programs and policies for the film, TV, gaming, and new media industries. Its mission is to recognize and promote the economic and creative potential of São Paulo’s audiovisual industry as well as its cultural and social impact.

Projeto Paradiso is a foundation that offers a wide range of support for professionals in film and episodic content and champions their presence on the global stage. Focused on internationalisation, Projeto Paradiso works through partnerships with well-known institutions, thereby connecting national talent with training and business opportunities around the world.

Established in 1988, the Hubert Bals Fund of International Film Festival Rotterdam supports groundbreaking film projects in every stage of the production process. The HBF has a special focus on filmmakers from countries where local filmmaking and infrastructure is lacking or restrictive. The HBF’s to date has supported over 1,100 film projects, many of which have premiered at major film festivals and received significant critical acclaim. Recent HBF projects include Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light, Baby by Marcelo Caetano, Tato Kotetishvili’s Holy Electricity, and To a Land Unknown by Mahdi Fleifel.