Tatiana Huezo, Apichatpong Weerasethakul & Levan Akin Among First Recipients

The Fondazione Prada has unveiled the feature film projects selected for the first funding round of its new film fund.

Launched during the Venice Film Festival last September, the Fondazione Prada Film Fund marks a new phase in the Italian fashion’s house 20-year relationship with cinema, which sees it get behind feature films for the first time.

Its inaugural 14 projects on the fringes of the Berlin Film Festival on Friday where it is holding a special event to be attended by some of the recipients.

They include Mexican director Tatiana Huezo, who won best director in the Berlinale’s Encounters section for the The Echo in 2023, Cannes Palme d’Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives) and Levan Akin, whose films And Then We Danced and Crossing have made waves on the festival circuit with the latter title playing in Berlin’s Panorama section in 2024.

Four of the projects are in development, nine are in production and one is in post-production. The projects involve production companies active in 26 countries across 5 continents and span a wide range of genres. They are authored by sixwomen and right men, and include 2 debut features.

“The quality and experimentation of the selected projects demonstrate the dynamic nature and variety that characterize contemporary independent cinema,” said Miuccia Prada, President and Director of the Fondazione.

“With the Film Fund we aim to promote the work of authors, especially those who most need concrete support to translate their vision into reality. Moving forward, Fondazione Prada intends to continue promoting the idea of afree, demanding, and visionary cinema by building a stronger dialogue with those who conceive, develop, and produce films.”

Former Cannes Directors Fortnight Delegate General is the head of the fund.

“The Film Fund stems from the realization that contemporary independent cinema is experiencing a period of great artistic vibrancy alongside significant structural fragility. Many of the most ambitious works in terms of research and formal experimentation face increasing difficulties in finding adequate production support. The Film Fund is conceived to support this research through its many phases,” he said

“The selected projects reflect a wide range of sensibilities, geographies, and approaches, while sharing a high level of formal awareness and a clear artistic vision. Our goal is to help create the right productive condition for rigorous and innovative research to continue to fully take shape.”

Working with a 1.5 million euros ($1.7) funding envelope, the fund supports film projects in their development, production, and post-production phases.

There are no restrictions of genre or geography, it embraces a plurality of languages, forms, and perspectives, focusing particularly on works that address contemporary complexities through personal and innovative cinematographic vision.

The selected projects are: