Animation Gem “Cherub” Wins Twice at Rotterdam’s Prestigious CineMart
Short Summary:
The Polish animation project "Cherub" achieved significant recognition at the International Film Festival Rotterdam’s CineMart, winning both the Eurimages New Lab Award for Innovation and the Wouter Barendrecht Award. The film, directed by Barbara Rupik, is a story of angelic beings in a small village, blending rural folklore and genre elements.At the recent CineMart project market of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), the Polish animation project 'Cherub' stood out by winning two of the seven awards presented. This event, part of the IFFR, showcased 20 projects in development and six nearing completion.
Directed by debut feature director Barbara Rupik and produced by Madants, 'Cherub' received the Eurimages New Lab Award for Innovation, valued at €20,000, and the Wouter Barendrecht Award, with a €5,000 prize. The film portrays shape-shifting angelic beings arriving in a small, forgotten village to claim a dying girl's soul, weaving a narrative that combines rural folklore with genre elements.
Other notable winners at the event included Shengze Zhu’s 'A Distant House Smokes on the Horizon', which took the €6,000 ArteKino International Award. Zhu’s film, his first fiction feature, focuses on three teenagers planning to escape their small town. The Filmmore Post-production Award, providing €7,500 worth of in-kind support, was awarded to Andreas Fontana’s 'Les Diplomates'. The film is about Austrian and Swiss diplomats covertly shaping history during the Eastern Bloc's dissolution.
The Spanish director Alejandro Telémaco Tarraf's 'Alumbre' won the VIPO Award, worth €3,000. This film delves into a man's confrontation with pain and belonging. The most financially significant award, the €30,000 Eurimages New Lab Award – Outreach for work-in-progress projects, was claimed by Lilian Hess’ 'Duchampiana', an immersive project inspired by Duchamp’s 'Nude Descending A Staircase'. Lastly, the 4DR Studios Award was presented to Isobel Knowles and Van Sowerwine for 'The World Came Flooding In', an immersive documentary installation highlighting the human impact of flooding and climate change.
Alessia Acone, head of IFFR Pro (a.i.), commended the diversity and richness of the projects presented, emphasizing the co-production market's role in fostering groundbreaking and avant-garde works in the film and media landscape.
