Cate Blanchett Talks Launching Displacement Film Fund During A “Really Turbulent Time” — Rotterdam

deadline.com:

Actress-producer Cate Blanchett spoke about how the newly-announced Displacement Film Fund will support displaced filmmakers and those working on stories about displaced people at a panel held at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) on Saturday.

Blanchett appeared alongside Oscar-nominated filmmakers including Perfect Days producer Koji Yanai, For Sama director Waad Al-Kateab and Flee director Jonas Rasmussen, as well as Hubert Bals Fund head Tamara Tatishvili. “I do think that we’re releasing this fund in a really turbulent time when audiences are hungry to consume stories in many different ways,” said Blanchett. “The industry, in a lot of ways, is in free fall and that’s an opportunity to reforge itself into something more exciting.” Bestowing up to five individual production grants of €100,000 (approximately US$104,200), the Displacement Film Fund was established to champion and fund the work of displaced filmmakers, or filmmakers with a proven track record in creating authentic storytelling on the experiences of displaced people.

Blanchett emphasized how the fund will approach projects with an open mind and let the filmmakers’ voices shine through. “We don’t have to lecture people because the displaced people I sat with have not been lecturing me — they have been sharing points of common humanity.

That has always surprised and moved me and has really altered the cause of my life,” added Blanchett. Blanchett will head the selection committee for the fund, which also includes Al-Kateab, Rasmussen, Cynthia Erivo, Agnieszka Holland, IFFR’s Vanja Kaludjercic, Aisha Khurram and Amin Nawabi, among others.