IFFR Pro

05/06/2026

Two prizes for HBF and IFFR Pro-supported films: Cannes 2026 round-up🌴

The IFFR team is just back from an exciting and rewarding edition at Cannes. Across the Official Selection and Semaine de la Critique, five IFFR-backed films featured in the programme, two took home prizes, and Rotterdam Lab alumni were present throughout.

IFFR-backed films in Cannes:
✧ The Station by Sara Ishaq [Development (2018), HBF+Europe (2022) and NFF+HBF (2022)]
✧ Seis meses en el edificio rosa con azul by Bruno Santamaría Razo (HBF+Europe in 2024)
✧ Ben’imana by Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo won the Caméra d’or prize (HBF Development Support in 2022)
✧ Elephants in the Fog by Abinash Bikram Shah won the Jury Prize in Un Certain Regard (HBF Development Support in 2021 and HBF+Europe Minority Co-production Support in 2023)
✧ Titanic Ocean by Konstantina Kotzamani (CineMart 2019)

The Hubert Bals Fund made two major announcements as HBF+Brazil launched its second edition at a full-house panel at the Marché du Film, and the Displacement Film Fund revealed its second cycle of recipients.

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Five IFFR-backed films featured in the programme, two took home prizes and Rotterdam Lab alumni made their presence felt throughout.

23/05/2026

Jury Prize in Cannes for Hubert Bals Fund- and IFFR Pro-supported Elephants in the Fog 🇳🇵🏆

Our congratulations to Nepalese filmmaker Abinash Bikram Shah, whose HBF-supported debut feature Elephants in the Fog won the Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes.

"A work of shattering visual beauty and q***r political ferocity," wrote Cédric Succivalli for the International Cinephile Society on the film set in Nepal's transgender community.

The film was backed by the Hubert Bals Fund with Development Support (2021) and HBF+Europe: Minority Co-production Support (2023), as well as through IFFR Pro and the Netherlands Film Festival's BoostNL development programme (2022–3).

Co-producer Tatiana Leite of Bubbles Project (Brazil) – a Rotterdam Lab 2015 alum and familiar face as a CineMart mentor – brings yet another IFFR connection.

06/05/2026