Cinefondation Atelier at the Cannes Film Festival

Fifteen feature film projects from 14 countries have been selected for the 8th Cinéfondation Atelier at the 65th Cannes International Film Festival (from May 16 to 27).

Among the projects will be In Your Name by Dutch director Marco van Geffen, whose first feature film Among Us was presented in competition at the last Locarno Film Festival.

Two first feature projects by female directors will also be on show with Touch Me Not by Romanian director Adina Pintilie (whose medium-length film Don't Get Me Wrong was selected by many festivals) and Des Etoiles (Stars) by Franco-Senegalese director Dyana Gaye (nominated for a César award in 2011 for best short with Saint Louis Blues), a project led by production company Andolfi and that has been promised an advance based upon box office receipts from the French National Center for Cinema and themoving image (CNC).

Another project for a first European feature film will be presented at the Atelier with Franco-Portugese production Tristes Monroes (Sad Monroes) by the duo Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt, who were noticed at the last Mostra in Venice in the Horizons selection with the medium-length film Palaces of Pity (France-Portugal).

There will also be Cannibal by the Spaniard Manuel Martín Cuenca that will be the director's seventh feature film after over 12 years, of alernatively making documentaries and fiction films.

The other projects selected for the 2012 Atelier are: 

1. Odysseys by Malek Bensmaïl (Algeria) 
2. Run by Philippe Lacôte (Ivory Coast) 
3. Blessed Benefits by Mahmoud Al Massad (Jordan)
4. 3,000 Nights by Mai Masri ( Palestine) 
5. The Untold Tale by Shivajee Chandrabhushan (India) 
6. The Dog Show by Ralston Jover (Philippines) 
7. To Kill A Manby Alejandro Almendras (Chile) 
8. The Last Land by Pablo Lamar (Paraguay)
9. Du, Zooey and Ma by Robin Weng and Underground Fragrance by Pengfei Song.(China)

Created in 2005 to help emerging and confirmed filmmakers to complete financing for their film (115 directors have benefitted so far, 72 films have been made, and 20 are still in pre-production), the Atelier will allow those selected in 2012 to be present on the Croisette from May 18 to 25 with their producers for individual meetings with the professionals interested in their projects. The Book of Projects and application forms will be available at the beginning of April on the Cinéfondation's website.

This is from Cineuropa.org