The 2006 Atelier has selected 18 projects by filmmakers from 17 different countries (2 from the United States) spanning the 5 continents.
The scripts (for the most part original subjects) deal with themes testifying to a shared awareness of the state of the planet. This generation, born into a world of globalisation, shares the same fears and hopes, over and beyond their cultural differences.
Their universal and singular worldview is expressed through the eyes of two Latino teens in the United States after September 11th (Don't Let Me Drown), a woman faced with a totally masculine world in the Antarctic (Shiver), a prehistoric man (Utopia, one of the 9 films on the "American Dream"), or a young black South African confronted by the violence of the ghettos (Scar).
Other projects focus on the family, through the search for paternity as lived as a sign of power (Kishta), the conflict between father and son (La Régate) or the breakdown of the family model (Home).
The theme of apprenticeship of the world through travel is taken on by several filmmakers: crossing India with a travelling cinema (Road, Movie), an agonising plunge into the world of the fantastic (The Quagmire), or a strange encounter in the American desert between two Croatians - one Muslim, the other Orthodox (Buick Rivera). The capacity to adapt and the instinct to survive lie at the heart of Wang Bing, Ursula Meier and Teboho Mahlatsi's projects.
The selected projects are supported by the producers associated with them, for the most part American (7) and French (5).
The average budget is about $3.2 million (US), with partial financing already secured.
Goals: For the 2006 edition, information from professionals is reinforced by both the Film Market and the Producers Network to accelerate financing and the step up to directing
The 2005 Atelier led to the making of 6 films (4 shot and 2 in post-production) and the putting into production of 7 other films slated for spring and summer 2006. http://www.cinefondation.com/