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from e-flux

Call for entries: Film Fund

Fondazione Prada
https://www.fondazioneprada.org

Fondazione Prada announces the opening of the second call for entries of the Fondazione Prada Film Fund, the annual initiative launched in 2025 to support independent cinema.

The fund, amounting to 1,5 million euros, aims to support works of high artistic value by enhancing Fondazione Prada’s twenty-year commitment to investigate cinematographic practices, broadening its scope to the creation and production processes of filmmaking. The call for entries, including eligibility criteria and application procedure, is available on fondazioneprada.org/film–fund and submissions will be accepted until August 6, 2026 for projects in the production phase and until September 10, 2026 for projects in the development and post-production phases. The final selection will be announced in February 2027.

The first call for entries, open from September to October 2025, received over 1,200 submissions from around the world. The selection process favored works that combined artistic quality, formal risk, and thematic urgency, reflecting the energy and heterogeneity of contemporary auteur cinema. Among the 14 projects selected—authored by 6 female directors (Natalia Almada, Verena Paravel, Tatiana Huezo, Laura Citarella, Rubaiyat Hossain, and Daria Martin) and 8 male directors (Yuri Ancarani, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Baloji, Levan Akin, Corneliu Porumboiu, Andrea Gatopoulos, Hlynur Pálmason, and Eduardo Williams)—four were in development, nine in production, and one in post-production, also involving production companies active in 26 countries across five continents.

As stated by Miuccia Prada, President and Director of Fondazione Prada, “This second edition of the Film Fund reaffirms our commitment to supporting filmmakers and professionals in the film industry that pursue a free, demanding, and visionary idea of cinema. The first edition made it clear that it is necessary to contribute concretely, particularly to those who develop projects which stand out for their originality, thoroughness, and willingness to experiment. For us, continuing to invest in the research on contemporary cinema means contributing to the vibrancy of a language that is still essential to interpret the complexity of our present.”

According to Paolo Moretti, Head of Fondazione Prada Film Fund, “The response to the first edition of the fund exceeded our expectations. The high volume of applications and the quality of the projects confirmed that independent cinema remains a vital field for research, innovation, and creative freedom. The interest shown by the international film community inspires us to strengthen and further develop this initiative so that it can respond ever more effectively to the needs of filmmakers and production companies that choose to follow rigorous, personal, and artistically ambitious visions.”

The Film Fund supports feature film projects in their development, production, and post-production phases. With no restrictions of genre or geography, it embraces a plurality of languages, forms, and perspectives, focusing particularly on works that spread personal and rigorous cinematographic visions. The financial contribution, up to 250,000 euros for each project, will be provided to the main production company as strategic support to realize the film. Access to the call is reserved for production companies that can demonstrate reliability in resource management and ensure transparent and responsible use of funds. There will also be monitoring activities to ensure proper financial management, production quality, and alignment of the final work with the original proposal.

After a preliminary check to ensure applications meet the requirements, projects will undergo two evaluation phases. An initial review will be carried out with the contributions of a group of consultants active in programming, curating, production, criticism, and film research, with experience in cultural contexts of international relevance. The final evaluation will be conducted by a selection committee composed of Miuccia Prada, President and Director of Fondazione Prada; Paolo Moretti, Head of Fondazione Prada Film Fund; Chiara Costa, Head of Programs of Fondazione Prada; Rebecca De Pas, Project Manager of Fondazione Prada Film Fund; Giuliana Bruno, Emmet Blakeney Gleason Professor of Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard University and member of Fondazione Prada’s Steering Committee; and Violeta Bava, programmer and producer.