The Displacement Film Fund, a new short film grant scheme established to fund the work of filmmakers, has announced its five recipients. Among them is Somali-Austrian filmmaker Mo Harawe, whose film, Whispers of a Burning Scent, is one of five projects selected to receive a production grant of €100,000.
The project follows a man facing the unraveling of his marriage and the judgment of his stepchildren on the day of a court hearing.
Other selected projects include Silk Road by Ukrainian filmmaker Maryna Er Gorbach, Allies in Exile by Syrian filmmaker Hasan Kattan, Female Fitness of Kabul by Afghan filmmaker Shahrbanoo Sadat, and an undisclosed project by Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof.
Each of the filmmakers selected for the Displacement Film Fund will be provided with a production grant of €100,000 and the completed projects will have a world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) next year. The fund’s contributors include Master Mind, Uniqlo, and Droom en Daad. The Tamer Family Foundation and the Amahoro Coalition, a group of private sector leaders in Africa, also contributed to the fund.
The Hubert Bals Fund, a programme under IFFR, is the fund’s management partner, while UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) is its strategic partner.
The fund’s selection process involved a Nominations Committee and a Selection Committee, chaired by Cate Blanchett. “I can’t wait to see what these exceptional filmmakers bring to life – whether addressing displacement directly, or exploring the universal threads that unite us,” the Oscar-winning actress said.
A panel event on the fund will be held as part of the Cannes Film Festival’s official programme. The panel will feature Blanchett alongside Harawe, Maryna Er Gorbach, and Rajendra Roy, Chief Curator of Film at the The Museum of Modern Art (NY).
Speaking on the subject, Thierry Frémaux, General Delegate at the Cannes Film Festival, said, “The Cannes Film Festival is proud and honoured to host the Displacement Film Fund panel, giving voice to artists whose journeys have been marked by exile and displacement.”
He added: “By embracing their perspectives, the Festival reaffirms—more than ever—its role as a refuge: a home for those who see cinema as a free and universal act, one that transmits, resists, and bears witness to the world around us.”
Mo Harawe’s debut feature film, The Village Next to Paradise, was selected for the Un Certain Regard section of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
