Foto fra indiske «Girls will be girls»

Under Sørfond Forum ifjor ankom filmskapere fra hele verden for å pitche sine prosjekter for norske produsenter. Målsetningen er at forumet skal skape grobunn for samarbeid med norske produsenter slik at prosjektene kan søke støtte fra Sørfond ved neste frist.

Denne uken landet Sørfond på sine valg: Fem norske filmprodusenter har fått til sammen tre millioner kroner i tilskudd til seks samproduksjoner med andre land. De norske produsentene er Elisa Fenanda Pirir i Mer Film (som er involvert i to av prosjektene); Christian Fredrik Martin i Maipo Film, Fernanda Renno i Fidalgo Film, Torstein Grude i Piraya Film og Eleonore Anselme, Hummelfilm.

Årets Sørfond-jury har bestått av Silje Riise Næss (DFI), Jovan Marjanović (festivalsjef Sarajevo film festival) og Per Eirik Gilsvik, prosjektleder i Sørfond. Her er alle prosjektene (gjengitt på engelsk):

WHERE THE RIVER BEGINS – DONDE COMIENZA EL RIO

Country: Colombia
Genre: Fiction feature
Director: Juan Andrés Arango
Norwegian co-producer: Elisa Fenanda Pirir, Mer Film
Producer: Paola Andrea Pérez Nieto, Inerica Films SAS
Support: 500.000 NOK

Synopis: Yajaira, a young Embera mother, and Jhon, a young white gang member who belongs to one of the most feared gangs in Bogotá, are forced to flee the city due to violence. On their journey from the Colombian capital to the Andágueda River, in the heart of the pacific jungle, they will have to learn to know each other’s secrets while facing difficult questions about justice and redemption.

Jury statement: Where The River Begins explores topics like identity, belonging, revenge and forgiveness in modern Colombia, a society where millions have been and continues to be displaced due to war and violence. We were impressed by a very well written script and the ways it portrays its main character Yajaira. Her struggle to navigate her violent surroundings while having one foot in the westernised life of the city and the other in Embera tradition, promises a complex and layered character that we really need to see on the big screen.

BIKECHESS

Country: Kazakhstan
Genre: Fiction feature
Director: Assel Aushakimova
Norwegian co-producer: Christian Fredrik Martin, Maipo Film AS
Producer: Almagul Tleukhanova, Alma Pictures
Support: 500.000 NOK

Synopis: A female journalist of a Kazakh state TV channel is torn between meaningless news reports, her affair with a married colleague, and taking care of her activist lesbian sister, who regularly finds herself in trouble with the authorities.

Jury statement: The jury was convinced by an original story with a humoristic and absurd approach to everyday life under authoritarianism. Through following Dina, a tv-journalist who tries her best to figure out her own life, while she together with her news crew is staging the news according to how they think the government wants it, we are reminded about the importance of the fourth estate.

I, THE SONG

Country: Bhutan
Genre: Fiction feature
Director: Dechen Roder
Norwegian co-producer: Fernanda Renno, Fidalgo Film AS
Producer: Dechen Roder, Dakinny Productions
Support: 600.000 NOK

Synopis: To save her job, a school teacher travels to the south of Bhutan in search of her doppelganger, but as she becomes entangled in her lookalike’s life, she realises she might be the only one to solve her doppelganger’s disappearance as well as recover a “stolen” sacred song.

Jury statement: Juxtaposing the traditional Bhutanese way of living with the troubles of modernity on- and offline, sophomore filmmaker Dechen Roder manages to uniquely portray the specificities of her home country’s culture and values, as well as the universality and morality of life in the digital age. If everyone mistakes you for being an online persona you’re not – how do you ever win your identity and integrity back?

With a rich visual and musical palette, we get to follow young Nima, literally on her life’s journey. In the end she will never look back, and we in the audience will be one original film experience richer.

TOUDA

Country: Morocco
Genre: Fiction feature
Director: Nabil Ayouch
Norwegian co-producer: Elisa Fernanda Pirir, Mer Film AS
Producer: Amine Benjelloun, Ali n’ Productions
Support: 500.000 NOK

Synopis: In the small town of Sidi Bennour, Touda, a 35-year-old mother, raises her deaf-and-mute son Yassine, on her own. Touda is a sheikha (traditional singer) who performs in dingy bars to make ends meet. But Touda has a passion. She struggles for her art to be recognized and to ensure a better future for her son.

Jury statement: In a Morocco where there still are different rules for men and women, for rich and poor, for capitalists and artists, the singer Touda is struggling to get by and build a life for herself and her son. Where he cannot hear or express his mind more than in silent communication within his immediate family, Touda’s voice is heard and appreciated, but not respected. Like before, acclaimed director Nabil Ayouch aims to expose and analyze Moroccan society, as well as cherishing its rich cultural and musical traditions.

FARMING THE REVOLUTION

Country: India
Genre: Documentary
Director: Nishtha Jain
Norwegian co-producer: Torstein Grude, Piraya Film AS
Producer: Nishtha Jain, Raintree Films LLP
Support: 400.000 NOK

Synopis: Takes us to the heart of the massive year-long protest against the Indian government’s unjust farm laws. The film crew lives among the half million farmers to make us experience the daily texture and indomitable spirit of this historic farmers’ movement until, finally, victory!

Jury statement: New, highly anticipated documentary by an acclaimed filmmaker whose special take on Indian society brought her films to audiences world-wide and brought her global attention. She has accomplished it by being truly close to her topics and her subjects and this time is no different, the film delves into the movement and all of it’s facets, from a horrific suicide wave that preceded it to closely following a successful democratic fight for environmental and labour rights in an increasingly authoritarian India.

GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS

Country: India
Genre: Fiction feature
Director: Shuchi Talati
Norwegian co-producer: Eleonore Anselme, Hummelfilm AS
Producer: Sanjay Gulati, Crawling Angel Films LLP
Support: 500.000 NOK

Synopis: Girls Will Be Girls is set in a conservative Hindu boarding school in northern India, where girls are policed, ostensibly to protect their “virtue”. We follow sixteen-year-old Mira in her senior year of high school, whose rebellious coming-of-age is hijacked by her mother who never got to come-of-age.

Jury statement: A feature debut from a talented Indian filmmaker whose previous short films attest to her attention to subtle nuances and ability to make serious points through humour. The script promises a delicate and well observed portrait of growing up in a school during times of great transition in Indian society, peppered with a surprising mother – daughter cringe and humour-filled relationship.

Om Sørfond: Sørfond forvaltes av Norsk filminstitutt i samarbeid med Stiftelsen Festivalkontoret. Tilskuddsordningen er finansiert av Utenriksdepartementet. Den overordnede målsettingen for Sørfond er å bidra til å styrke filmproduksjon i land der slik produksjon er begrenset av politiske eller økonomiske årsaker. Sørfond skal bidra til å styrke film som kulturuttrykk, fremme mangfold og kunstnerisk integritet, samt styrke ytringsfriheten. Sørfond skal også bidra til økt samarbeid mellom norsk og internasjonal filmbransje. Sørfond ble opprettet i 2011 og har siden oppstarten gitt tilskudd til over 60 internasjonale samproduksjoner.