TorinoFilmLab, a Turin-based institution that supports the production and distribution of feature films (fiction, documentary and animation) co-produced by European companies with international partners, has selected Awaiting Birds and Past Future Continuous to receive production grants of €50,000 each through the 2024 edition of its TFL Co-Production Fund, dedicated to filmmakers working on their third or subsequent feature film.
For Argentinian-Costarican director Sofia Quiros Ubeda, Awaiting Birds is her second feature film: a Sputnik Film production from Costa Rica in co-production with Argentina’s Murillo Cine, Brazil’s Vulcana Films, Spain’s El Viaje Films, France’s Promenades Films and Norway’s Staer, the latter a beneficiary of the TFL fund.
The film recounts the life of little Oliver who, faced with his mother’s illness, reacts by bonding with Paloma, a neighbour on whom he projects the fantasy of a new mother. His relationship with her and his bond with the birds will help him overcome his imminent bereavement.
The documentary Past Future Continuous by Iranian directors Firouzeh Khosrovani and Morteza Ahmadvand, in their second feature, tells the story of Maryam, an Iranian immigrant in the United States, who is in constant visual contact with her home in Iran through surveillance cameras. These cameras take her back to the days of the 1979 revolution.
Photo Credits: Pexels