Today the IDFA Bertha Fund is pleased to announce its support of Aswang (dir. Alyx Ayn Arumpac, 2019) with a grant of €30,000 through the IBF Europe – Distribution funding scheme. The grant supports the distribution of documentary co-productions between European and non-European producers.
Aswang—citing the Filipino term for evil spirits—is the latest film by up-and-coming director Alyx Ayn Arumpac. Centering on the terror of Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, the film premiered in the IDFA Competition for First Appearance last year, where it received the FIPRESCI Award. Aswang is produced by Cinematografica Philippines (Philippines) in co-production with Les Films de l’Oeil Sauvage (France), Razor Film Produktion GmbH (Germany), and Stray Dog Production AS (Norway), with LevelK (Denmark) as sales agent.
With the IDFA Bertha Fund’s support, Aswang will soon be distributed via screenings throughout the Philippines, in addition to a theatrical and VOD release in Denmark and Sweden.
This is the third and final project to receive the IBF Europe – Distribution grant in the 2019 selection cycle, following in the footsteps of Cocaine Prison (dir. Violeta Ayala, 2017) and Talking About Trees (dir. Suhaib Gasmelbari, 2019) which received distribution grants of €30,000 each in October 2019.
This round’s selection committee included Liselot Verbrugge (Sales Agent, Deckert Distribution), Daan Vermeulen (Interim Director and Acquisitions, Cinema Delicatessen), and Isabel Arrate Fernandez (Managing Director, IDFA Bertha Fund).
For the 2020 selection cycle, the IDFA Bertha Fund is currently accepting project submissions in the IBF Europe – Distribution category until October 1, 2020. Click here for regulations and submission information.
The Fund is also calling for submissions to the IBF Europe – International Co-productions category, which remains open until April 1, 2020. Go to the call.
Finally, the NFF + IBF Co-production Scheme is open for submissions until March 3, 2020. Read more about this category via the Netherlands Film Fund.
The IDFA Bertha Fund supports independent, critical, and artistic voices from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe with the aim of stimulating and empowering the creative documentary sector in these regions. Read more about the different grants.
The IDFA Bertha Fund is supported by Bertha Foundation and Creative Europe Media.
Since President Duterte took office, the Philippine police have killed tens of thousands of drug addicts. The experiences of a journalist, a coroner, a missionary brother and a street kid show the despair and fear caused by lawless violence.
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