Overview
- Blanchett announced at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday a new five-filmmaker cohort featuring Mo Amer, Annemarie Jacir, Akuol de Mabior, Rithy Panh and Bao Nguyen with working titles revealed.
- Each recipient will receive a €100,000 production grant, and the completed short films are slated for world premieres at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2027.
- The fund focuses on stories by or about displaced people and operates as a short-film grant created with UNHCR and IFFR’s Hubert Bals Fund to increase visibility for these narratives.
- Selection followed a two-step process that used a Nominations Committee and a Selection Committee chaired by Blanchett, with members including IFFR director Vanja Kaludjercic and producer Barbara Broccoli.
- Partners from the first cycle return with UNHCR remaining a strategic partner and the SP Lohia Foundation joining as a new major backer, while the inaugural shorts expand to Tokyo International Film Festival and New York’s Film Forum later this year for added exposure and awards qualification.