CineMart launches prestige pix

Rotterdam co-prod'n market offers Oscar potentials

By ARCHIE THOMAS

ROTTERDAM -- As news spread around the headquarters of the Rotterdam Film Festival that Hany Abu-Assad's "Paradise Now" had received a foreign language Oscar nomination, the excitement was tangible.

Back in 2001, Abu-Assad's pic, then known as "In-Between Two Days," started assembling financing at CineMart, the biz's oldest and largest co-production market, which runs during the Rotterdam fest and wrapped Feb. 2. Nothing pleases the folks at Rotterdam more than seeing talent they have helped nurture succeed.

Abu-Assad's recognition is not the first success born and bred in the Netherlands' port city. Past pics that got up and running thanks to exposure at CineMart at script stage include Lars von Trier's "Breaking the Waves," Walter Salles' "Central Station," Peter Mullan's "The Magdalene Sisters," Miranda July's "Me and You and Everyone we Know" and Bent Hamer's "Factotum." And the hot streak continues. Three 2005 CineMart projects  -- Hiner Saleem's "Kilometre Zero," Amat Escalante's "Blood" and Kornel Mundruczo's "Johanna" -- all went on to screen at Cannes.

"CineMart is about starting the conversation. While deals are rarely done on the spot (most projects are still at script stage,) the wheels are set in motion in Rotterdam. Buyers return to their offices and then plot follow-up meetings in Berlin and beyond," comments CineMart co-topper Marit van den Elshout, who took over stewardship from Ibo Abrams this year, along with Bianca Taal.

According to van den Elshout and Taal, CineMart projects that generated heat at the 23rd edition included Chi Yen Ooi's "Beetle Ramen," Jens Jonsson's "Follow, Follow, Lead," Stefan Arsenijevic's "Love and Other Crimes," Matthew Brown's "Leaving the Cape," Jukka-Pekka Valkeapaa's "The Visitor" and Guy Maddin's "Ghosting." "We were getting constant requests from co-producers and financiers to line up more meetings with the producers and directors of those films,"

Each year some 450 projects apply for inclusion in CineMart, but only one in 10 make the final cut. It is this rigorous selection process that appeals to buyers. "We are here to meet and connect with the next generation of filmmakers," says Wayne Godfrey, London-based Goldcrest Films' acquisitions and development coordinator, adding, "Rotterdam has done the hard work for us, and we are here to cherry-pick from a wonderfully eclectic mix of projects."

Few seem to leave CineMart with no irons in the fire. Helge Albers from Potsdam-based film production outfit Flying Moon Filmproduction has attended Cinemart for the past five years and says he "always seems to come away with one project." Flying Moon became involved with "Waiting for the Clouds" (2003,) "Summer Palace" (2004) and "Better Things" (2005) through CineMart.

The calm ambiance in Rotterdam appeals to those selling their wares. "You get a better opportunity to make proper contact with international partners in a relaxed setting than you do at Cannes or Berlin. You take less of a hammering," says Kim Lewis from the Australian Film Commission who was in town to assist Chi Yen Ooi with his back to back CineMart meetings for "Beetle Ramen" -- at $5.3 million the biggest budgeted project in the mart.

The fact that so many filmmakers return to CineMart underlines its enduring appeal. This year Escalante came to Rotterdam to screen past CineMart project "Blood" in official competition and present new project "Los Bastardos" at CineMart. Likewise, Sri Lankan helmer Vimukthi Jayasundara returned to show Camera d'Or winner and CineMart 2004 pic "The Forsaken Land" and drum up financial support for his "Fallen from the Sky" synopsis. To Jayasundara the appeal is simple: "CineMart became a sort of label (of validation.) It was crucial to the success of 'The Forsaken Land.'"

Investing in future talent is fundamental to the success of IFFR and CineMart. With this in mind the Rotterdam Lab producers training program was launched six years ago and this year's class of attendees are chomping at the bit. "The Lab is a great place for a new producer because you meet so many good contacts in such a short space of time," says up and coming producer Clare Kerr ("Night People") who was recommended to the program by CineMart partner Scottish Screen. "I will come back with a project for CineMart next year and be all the more ready for the full-fat Rotterdam experience having attended the Lab."

Kerr's ambition has been realized by Canadian producer Shawn Watson who did the Lab and returns to Rotterdam to present "Ghosting" in CineMart -- "since I participated in the Lab I have been looking for a film fit for CineMart. Maddin's seemed absolutely right and this has been confirmed by the response." If Watson is to prove a true Rotterdam darling, he will return next year to unveil "Ghosting" in competition. That would bring more smiles to Rotterdam top brass.