Hubert Bals Fund

15/07/2026

Three HBF-supported titles in the Locarno competition lineups 🐅

We're delighted for the filmmakers from Chile, Brazil and Georgia whose HBF-supported work is set to premiere in the Locarno Film Festival competitions!

Among them is Uta Beria’s Tear Gas, following sixteen-year-old Elene in a Georgian refugee settlement as a day of peaceful protest unravels into violence. The film is the first-ever recipient of the HBF Empowerment Award, a new €10,000 prize that was established in 2025 which supports filmmakers in politically challenging contexts and/or on themes of freedom of expression, displacement and human rights. The jury described it as "strikingly urgent, [with] raw emotional depth and fearless storytelling".

Concorso Internazionale:
🇨🇱 Princesa B***o dir. Cristóbal León, Joaquin Cociña (HBF Development 2020, NFF+HBF 2023)
🇧🇷 A Margem do Rio dir. Matheus Farias, Enock Carvalho (HBF Development 2022)

Concorso Cineasti del Presente:
🇬🇪 Tear Gas dir. Uta Beria (HBF+Europe: Minority Co-production 2023, Darkroom 2025, HBF Empowerment Award 2025)

19/06/2026

09/06/2026

HBF+Europe: Post-production Support call 📣

The latest HBF+Europe: Post-production Support call is intended to support European minority co-productions in bold film projects by filmmakers from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe that are in the post-production stage and do not have any world premiere confirmed until mid-September 2026.

The projects should aim for their festival premiere and/or theatrical release from mid-September 2026 onwards.

Apply before Monday 22 June 2026, 17.00 CEST via: https://iffr.com/en/hubert-bals-fund/funding-schemes/hbfeurope-post-production-support

HBF+Europe is supported by the Creative Europe – MEDIA programme of the European Union.

Film still: Variations on a Theme by Jason Jacobs and Devon Delmar (HBF+Europe: Post-production Support 2024)

28/05/2026

Hubert Bals Fund at Cannes 2026 ⛵✨

We're just back from a very busy and rewarding edition at Cannes, where we're reflecting on a packed schedule of announcements, panels and meetings, next to two prizes for HBF-supported films.

We revealed the second cohort of the Displacement Film Fund, with HBF returning as Management Partner, and announced the second edition of HBF+Brazil with a full house panel – with thanks once again to our partners Projeto Paradiso, RioFilme, Spcine and Embratur.

Beyond the announcements, Cannes is built on meetings and presentations where much of our year takes shape. We presented the HBF at La Fabrique Cinéma and connected with alumni and partners like the International Emerging Film Talent Fund (IEFTF).

HBF-supported films shone across the selections, and we were proud to stand alongside partners including CNC and the Norwegian Film Institute, with whom we co-funded The Station (dir. Sara Ishaq). We're delighted that Ben'imana (dir. Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo) and Elephants in the Fog (dir. Abinash Bikram Shah) both took home prizes.

Our thanks to all the filmmakers, partners and colleagues – see you next time!

26/05/2026

HBF-supported film Ben’imana wins Caméra d'or prize at Cannes 🏆🇷🇼

Congratulations to Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo, who won the Caméra d'or prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes. The film was backed by our Hubert Bals Fund with Development Support (2022).

With her debut feature, self-taught Kigali-born filmmaker Dusabejambois becomes the first Rwandan filmmaker in the Cannes Official Selection, presenting a portrait of Rwanda as it strives to rebuild itself following the 1994 Tutsi Genocide.

Through predominantly female characters, the film explores intergenerational trauma as love and hate, resentment and reconciliation intertwine. The film is an African majority co-production, with a cast composed almost entirely of non-professional actors.

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.

19/05/2026

Chantana Tiprachart awarded the Southeast Asian Video Art Production Grant 🤝

IFFR is proud to partner with leading international institutions on the Han Nefkens Foundation Southeast Asian Video Art Production Grant (), awarded to Thai artist Chantana Tiprachart () in 2026.

She receives $15,000 to produce a new video artwork, touring partner institutions in 2027-2028.

Tiprachart stated: "Finding a community that genuinely understands the artist’s journey is like finding room to breathe."

07/05/2026

HBF+Brazil: Co-development Support celebrates successful pilot and launches second edition at Cannes 🇧🇷

We're thrilled to announce that IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund (HBF), together with Brazilian partners Projeto Paradiso, RioFilme, Spcine and Embratur, announces the continuation of the HBF+Brazil: Co-development Support initiative following a successful pilot round.

The initiative has proven to be a concrete example of how public and private partners can work together to support filmmakers at one of the most decisive and vulnerable stages of the creative process. In 2025, the pilot saw 10 Brazilian fiction film projects each receive grants of €10,000.

To mark the announcement, the initiative's partners will host a panel discussion at the Marché du Film in Cannes on Monday 18 May, 17.30 – 19.00.

Read more via: https://iffr.com/en/blog-hbf-brazil-launches-second-round