Hubert Bals Fund

Administered by the International Film Festival of Rotterdam, the Hubert Bals Fund is designed to support feature and documentary films by talented filmmakers from developing countries. Since the Fund started in 1988, well over 530 projects from independent filmmakers in Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America have received support. Approximately 80% of these projects have been realised or are currently in production. Every year, the IFFR screens completed films supported by the Fund.

Support for filmmakers from developing countries. Application deadline: August 1, 2012.

The Hubert Bals Fund gives financial support twice a year. Application deadlines are March 1 and August 1. All materials should arrive no later than 5 working days after the deadline in our office.

It is essential that the filmmaker is a citizen and lives and works in a developing country as mentioned in the DAC-List. Please note: updated DAC-list!

Applications should be in English. Although the Fund has no rigid rules and each individual project will be judged on its own merits there are certainly limits to the field in which the Hubert Bals Fund operates. If you would like to submit your application in French, please contact us first.

The prime consideration of the panel that considers all the projects, will be the artistic qualities of an application.
Country of development and of the production should be one of the developing countries.
The entry should be original, authentic and rooted in the culture of the applicant's country.
The project should contribute to the development of the local film industry and the local film-making skills.
For the Fund to participate in a project, there should be a strong possibility that the rest of the finance can be found. Therefore applicants approaching the Fund should have other interested partners in place.
The Fund is restricted to the support of feature films and creative, feature length documentary projects with theatrical potential. Shorts, documentaries and films specially made for television cannot be taken in consideration. Creative documentary applications are only accepted for the Postproduction category. Eventual support for documentaries can be given by the Jan Vrijman Fund of the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).


The Fund operates with 5 different categories:

1. Script and project development
The maximum contribution for script and project development is 10.000 Euro.

Applications should be accompanied by:

synopsis
treatment of between 8 and 10 pages
director's statement
budget for script and project development
financial plan with confirmed financing, if available (include copy of the agreements)
(pre-)production schedule
bio/filmography of the filmmaker(s) and producer(s)
previous films of the filmmaker on DVD (2 copies) or available online


2. Digital Production
Funding up to 20.000 Euro for Digital Production of a feature length fiction film with a maximum total budget of 100.000 Euro

Applications should be accompanied by:

synopsis
director's statement
elaborate treatment or script
detailed budget
financial plan with confirmed financing, if available (include copy of the agreements)
production schedule
bio/filmography of the filmmaker(s) and producer(s)
previous films of the filmmaker on DVD (2 copies) or available online


3. Post-production funding or final-financing
The maximum contribution in this category is 30.000 Euro.

Applications should be accompanied by:

synopsis
director's statement
post-production schedule
Two DVD's with the first cut; in case the DVD has no subtitles please enclose a (time coded!) English dialogue list
detailed (postproduction) budget
financial plan with confirmed financing (include copy of agreements)
bio/filmography of the filmmaker(s) and producer(s)


4. Distribution
Funding up to a maximum of 15.000 Euro.

The distribution category of the HBF is designed to support alternative distribution projects (such as travelling cinema initiatives, new distribution systems/networks or festival outreach programmes) or the special release of an independent HBF or IFFR-selected film in the country/region of origin. Please note that the HBF is especially interested in initiatives that seek to find innovative and/or sustainable solutions for film distribution within the region.

Applications should be accompanied by:

A detailed release proposal that includes:

description of proposed activity/activities
a brief description of the current situation for release of independent film in the country/region
motivation for submission project
expected audience attendance
detailed budget
financial plan with confirmed financing, if available (include copy of the agreements)
bio/filmography of the filmmaker(s) and producer(s)
English subtitled final cut on DVD (2 copies)


5. Workshops
Funding up to a maximum of 10.000 Euro.

Applications should be accompanied by:

detailed description of the event
goal(s) or intentions of the event
possible participants (target group)
biographies of organizers
detailed budget
financial plan with confirmed financing, if available (include copy of the agreements)
production schedule

When filling out the Application Form for a Workshop proposal, leave blank any fields that are not applicable.
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Please note:

Applications can only be submitted more than once when specifically invited to do so.
Applications can only be processed if all requested materials are received by the deadline. All materials should arrive in our office no later than five days after the deadline. Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.
All submissions should be made in English. If you would like to submit your proposal in French, please contact us first.
Selected projects will be announced 10 weeks after the date of the submission deadline.
Questions? Please check our Frequently Asked Questions section here.

Applications and requested materials in English should be sent to:

By ordinary (air)mail:
International Film Festival Rotterdam
Attn. Hubert Bals Fund
P.O.Box 21696
3001 AR Rotterdam
the Netherlands

By express carrier:
(Please mention "Without commercial value, for cultural purposes only" and mark "no value", or "not more than 10 US dollar")

International Film Festival Rotterdam
Attn. Hubert Bals Fund
Karel Doormanstraat 278 B
3012 GP Rotterdam
the Netherlands
(please mark: 'no value' or 'value 10 US$')

STEP 2: THE HUBERT BALS FUND WEBFORM (via MyIFFR)
Please follow the steps of the application procedure. You will be able to upload your project dossier (preferably a single PDF file). For Script & Project development and Digital Production applications it is possible to include the URL of previous work available online. The application form is now available via MyIFFR.