CineMart FAQ

CineMart was the first platform of its kind to offer filmmakers the opportunity to launch their ideas to the international film industry and to find the right connections to get their projects financed. Each year, CineMart invites a select number of filmmakers and producers to present their film projects to co-producers, funds, sales agents, distributors, TV stations and other potential financiers. 

CineMart takes place during International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). IFFR 2025 will take place from Thursday 30 January to Sunday 9 February 2025.

In case you are interested in presenting your project at CineMart, you can read more about the submission deadline and regulations here.

In case you are interested in attending to meet with the selected projects, please note that CineMart is a by-invitation only market. We carefully review the guestlist each year in order to ensure that the attending industry representatives can contribute and possibly commit to the projects in the selection. CineMart delegates are co-producers, sales agents, distributors, broadcasters and potential financiers.

CineMart presents around 20 projects each edition. 16 feature film projects and 4 immersive projects were presented at CineMart’s 41st edition in 2024.

The opportunity to launch a film project to the international film industry and to find the right connections to get your projects financed. CineMart is not a fund, and does not provide financing itself. Selected projects get the opportunity to present themselves via pre-scheduled one-to-one meetings and many facilitated informal networking events, to potential co-producers, sales agents and financiers. In addition, IFFR Pro awards are handed out to projects from the CineMart selection.

In most cases, CineMart applications are submitted by the producer of the project. An application submitted by the director of the project will be accepted as long as there is a second person involved in the production of the project. Please make sure to check the rules and regulations first.

No, all CineMart applications require a director. The vision and the talent of a director are essential to the decision of the selection committee.

CineMart is there to facilitate looking for co-producers and financiers. If you have no producer yet, most likely it is too early for you to apply to CineMart.

The selection process for CineMart takes place in two phases:

Phase 1

Submit your project through our CineMart project submission page. Applications can only be processed if all necessary information has been submitted online via your personal account. The CineMart application entry form allows you to submit detailed information about your project. A summary of what you need to fill out:

1. Project information: Title, production country/ies, type of film, production status, goals at CineMart, logline (max. 60 words), synopsis (max. 1.500 words), director’s statement (max. 1.500 words), recent festival selections or awards for director and producer.
2. Film credits: name and contact details for director, producer and if applicable: writer, co-producer, financier, sales agent
3. Technical info: Running time, shooting format, colour/b&w, languages.
4. Financial info: Total budget (in euro), Financing already secured (amount as well as explanatory overview).

Early in October, the CineMart selection committee will reach a decision on all submitted forms. The contact person will receive the decision by email.

Phase 2

If your project is pre-selected, you are given one week to submit your full dossier (PDF) by email that includes links to previous work. It is not possible to extend this one week period.

Read more about what materials will be required if you are pre-selected in the questions below.

The selection committee will reach its final decision on all pre-selected projects by early December.

Application materials (and subtitles) should be in English.

Presenting a project at CineMart means launching it internationally and creating a tangible awareness about your project. If you are not ready yet to provide the people you meet at CineMart with a script or if there is no financing in place yet, the industry attending CineMart will most likely not be in a position to come on board your project yet.

At the same time when you are shooting already at the time of CineMart, or shooting is planned immediately after, be aware that you allow potential co-producers with very little opportunities to become a part of your project.

The project should have at least national (development) funding or third-party financing secured. It is strongly recommended to have approximately 20% of the budget in place.

Artistic quality: The selection committee looks specifically at the coherence between personal motivation and artistic principles, and the way these are aimed to be expressed in the final work. What is the cinematic vision? What drives the filmmaker? Through previous work the overall style and mastery of storytelling through audio visual elements is assessed. Originality and imagination are important elements.

Relevance: The selection committee takes the urgency of the project, and to what level the project is distinctive and unique into account.

Potential: The selection committee assesses if the project fits the editorial line-up of International Film Festival Rotterdam, has market potential and if the project is at the right stage and in the right shape to be presented to potential (financial) partners.

The full CineMart selection should form a balance of distinct voices where each project can uniquely shine, featuring different subjects and cinematic styles, with debut features to established filmmakers and a balance of gender and representation (of everyone in the project involved).

The main focus of CineMart is the support of fiction features. Shorts, documentaries and films made for television will not be taken into consideration. In some cases, the CineMart selects creative documentaries that have a strong cinematic approach and play with fiction or have a more experimental approach. Please keep in mind that the professionals attending CineMart mainly focus on fiction features.

Please be aware that it is highly unlikely that more than one project by the same director or producer will be selected for the same edition of CineMart. We advise you to carefully think about the project that has the most priority for you.

The application form requires you to include information about previous accomplishments of the director and the producer. It is important for us to know more about your previous work. The list does not need to be comprehensive; you can summarise and highlight important awards, selections or premieres of your work.

Due to the number of applications that CineMart receives, it is not possible to submit the same dossier twice. Applications can only be submitted more than once when the project has made substantial progress and has been invited to re-apply.

By early October, the CineMart Selection committee will reach a decision on all submitted application forms. A limited number of projects will get pre-selected. The contact person of each of those projects will receive a notification to submit their full dossier.

If you have received our notification that your project has been pre-selected, you have one week to submit your full dossier. It is not possible to extend this one week period, therefore we recommend that you make sure you have the following materials available for immediate submission:

• Synopsis (max. 3 pages)
• Treatment (max. 12 pages)
• Director’s statement (max. 2 pages)
• Producer’s biography and filmography
• Director’s biography and filmography
• Producer’s statement
• Budget topsheet
• Financial plan and secured financing
• Written explanation on the finance strategy (max. 1 page)
• Written audience engagement plan (max. 1 page)
• Production schedule
• Previous work of the director: available online streaming platform (such as Vimeo)

Compile all items above into a single PDF or Word document and reply within one week of the notification email you received. Only complete dossiers will be taken into consideration.

No – due to the amount of applications we receive, our selection committee cannot read scripts.

A treatment is generally longer and more detailed than a synopsis and it may include details of directorial style. A treatment reads like a story: it is the full story of the film in its simplest form. The average number of pages is between 7 – 12 pages.

An estimated top-sheet will suffice. In other words, we are interested in knowing the general budget of the film.

The financial plan should explain first of all which financiers you have on board and for which amount. Also indicate any pending fund applications. Finally we would like to read your goals at CineMart. How would you like to cover the remaining financing?

We don’t need a full shooting schedule. We would like a simple timeline or calendar of the estimated period that you are developing the film, financing, when you ideally will go into production, in post production and what is your estimated date of finalising the film. We are aware that these plannings are subject to change.

The environment in which independent films are distributed is constantly changing. That makes the distribution of your film difficult to predict. At the same time there is an even bigger need to think about appropriate and realistic distribution methods. We would like to read about your strategies for creating an awareness about your film. How do you intend to find and to attract your audience? 

CineMart welcomes innovation and experimentation in the selection of projects. In this regard, we would like to receive a statement from the director/visual artist (which could be a written text or a video pitch) that addresses the innovative, non-conventional, experimental nature of the work presented and how it employs new forms of expression, either in terms of content and/or format.

Previous work is an important element in considering the project dossier. This is previous work of the director. This can be a short film, a documentary and/or a feature film. Please provide the committee with the work you think is most relevant in assessing the project at hand. 
Please do not send show-reels.