– We present details of five intriguing projects freshly showcased at this year’s co-production market, which ran from 1-4 February in Rotterdam
Birdwoman by Lipika Singh Darai
This year’s CineMart, the industry arm of IFFR, unspooled from 1-4 February. Below, we take a closer look at five projects that were introduced at the Rotterdam-based gathering.
Birdwoman – Lipika Singh Darai (India/France)
This ambitious fiction project is being developed as “a passionate love story infused with lucid dreams and magical realism, tracing young couple Puria and Neema’s journey from village to city, from sexuality to the depths of desire,” and from “the shape of a woman to the flight of a bird”, reads the official catalogue. With an €845,000 budget and €88,000 of it already secured, the film is being produced by France’s Salt for Sugar Films and is backed in development by the Hubert Bals Fund. The director says the project aspires “to use a hybrid cinematic language – one that explores sexuality and the depth of human desire, with a man looking for his ground and a woman her sky”, while engaging with “the backdrop of society’s dark side” and her commitment to filmmaking rooted in Odisha. Producer Avantika Singh Desbouvries notes the project is now at an advanced development stage, with a visual graphic story book completed for CineMart, musical sketches developed with a Polish composer, and work ongoing on black-ink animation, VFX aesthetics and rehearsals with local actors. The third draft of the script is due by mid-2026, ahead of a broader financing phase later in the year, as the team seeks partners across Europe, Asia and the USA.
Coumba – Mamadou Dia (Senegal/France, winner of the HBF x PUBLIKUM Audience Outreach Award)
Blending crime investigation with legend and the tension between the visible and the invisible, the project follows Ins, a sceptical detective returning to his hometown after two decades. Assigned to Matam, Senegal, at Christmas to investigate a murder linked to the latest sighting of Coumba – a legendary hoofed spirit – he is torn between duty and disbelief. In a town where Coumba is treated as lived reality, Ins must decide whether he is facing superstition or something far more dangerous. With a €1,600,600 budget and €190,000 of it secured, the movie is being produced by Maayo Productions, with Les Films du Bilboquet. Supported by the Hubert Bals Fund, private funds and the producers, the project is in mid-stage development, with a treatment and mood board completed, and participation in the Red Sea Souk confirmed. Producer Eugénie Michel Villette highlights its fusion of mystery, legend and investigation, rooted in Senegalese mythologies. The team is seeking northern European co-producers, financiers, sales agents, broadcasters and distributors, particularly from Italy, Norway, the Netherlands, Germany and South Africa.
After the Night, the Night by Naomi Pacifique (© Idle Eye 2021)
After the Night, the Night – Naomi Pacifique (Netherlands/Switzerland)
This intimate contemporary drama explores desire, loss and the negotiation of emotions within non-monogamous relationships. Naomi wanders through Amsterdam over the course of one night after her partner Noé announces he will return to monogamy with another partner. Through fleeting encounters, she gradually confronts loss and redefines intimacy beyond traditional boundaries. Budgeted at €2,475,000, with €641,842 secured, the film is being produced by GROM Productions, and co-produced by Lemming Film, GoldenEggProduction and Idle Eye, with development backing from Ikusmira Berriak Residency, the Netherlands Film Fund and Swiss media. Producer Steven Rubinstein Malamud notes: “In a world where relationship structures are shifting and the ways in which loyalty expresses itself are made more complex, this film asks: what is love? What does it mean to be intimate with one another? How can we keep seeing each other for who we are?” The team is awaiting a Netherlands Film Fund decision, expected in March, and aims to launch international financing in spring 2026. They are seeking an additional co-producer and a sales agent, with partners being eyed across Europe and worldwide.
Beirut Baby by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige
Beirut Baby – Joana Hadjithomas, Khalil Joreige (Lebanon/France)
This contemporary drama follows Souraya, a psychotherapist who tends to Beirut’s collective wounds by day and lives independently by night. When she becomes pregnant without knowing who the father is, she faces the harsh reality of raising a child alone in a collapsing Lebanon. With a €1,779,325 budget (€363,870 of which have been secured), the film is being produced by Abbout Productions and Haut et Court, with backing from the CNC and Creative Europe. Producer Christian Eid stresses that in Lebanon, “a child without a legally declared father often has no nationality, as women cannot pass on citizenship”, a structural injustice shaping the film’s political and emotional core. He adds that Beirut Baby explores “power dynamics, fragility, despair and defiance, mapping psychological landscapes alongside the city’s pulse and the ways in which women reclaim agency within constraining systems”. Now in late development, the project is seeking sales agents, co-producers, financiers and distributors. It has been selected for the Berlinale Co-Production Market and the Rotterdam-Berlinale Express programme.
Lux by Thomas Elley (© Emil Aagaard)
Lux – Thomas Elley (Denmark)
Budgeted at €1,500,000 and staged by Frau Film, this fiction feature follows Leni, a blind woman in her late twenties who hires a state-appointed companion to help her find work. As professional boundaries erode, dependency and desire drive her down a path to self-discovery. Elley explains that Lux is set to explore discrimination, welfare-driven hierarchies and “the fragile line between intimacy and professionalism”. He adds: “While the story is fictional, it is grounded in the extensive research conducted before and during the development of the script.” Finally, producer Maria Møller Christoffersen reveals: “The project is in advanced development and is funded by the Danish Film Institute. We’re expecting production funding in June, and are looking for one co-producing country, broadcasters, distributors and sales agents.”
