By LOUI GALICIA

Three Filipino filmmakers are recipients of this year's International Film Festival Rotterdam's (IFFR) Hubert Bals Fund Spring grant.

The IFFR, in an email to ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau, said the Hubert Bals Fund announced the winners of its grant: 27 film projects for a total amount of 385,000 euros (25.6 million pesos).

Included in the 27 winning film projects from seventeen countries are the works of Lav Diaz, Roxlee and Adolfo Alix Jr. Since 2006, the HBF has been supporting low-budget digital film projects and the grants in this category are meant to cover a large part of a digital feature film, the IFFR's statement said.

Diaz receives support for the digital production of his film "The Great Desaparecido."

A regular at the Rotterdam film festival, Diaz has already screened his films since 2005, which include Evolution of a Filipino Family (2005), Jesus the Revolutionary (2006), Heremias (2006 and 2007), When the Rain Ended (2007) and Death in the Land of Encantos (2008).

Called a "maestro" by the IFFR, Diaz is the master of the full-length film, in fact a very long film.

He was a member of the 2007 jury for the selection of the winners of the Tiger Awards, which is the highlight of the yearly film festival.

Roque Federizon Lee or most popularly known as Roxlee, will receive a grant for the post production of his film "Green Rocking Chair."

Lee is also not a stranger to the IFFR having screened his early works Lizard, Live Rock, Ghost of Rocker Jeans and Romeo Must Rock at the festival in 2005.

Alix Jr. will receive funding for the script development of his film "Kalayaan."

He was a first timer at this year's film festival which was held from Jan. 24 to Feb. 4, when his film "Tambolista" was screened.

The Hubert Bals Fund is designed to bring remarkable or urgent feature films and feature-length creative documentaries by innovative and talented filmmakers from developing countries closer to completion.

It provides grants that often turn out to play a crucial role in enabling these filmmakers to realize their projects.

Winning a grant from the HBF is a big achievement in itself as the competition is very stiff. In order to be selected, filmmakers from southern or developing countries can enter their projects twice a year and hundreds of applications are received in each of the selection rounds.

Since the Fund started in 1988, close to 600 projects from independent filmmakers in Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America have received support. Approximately 80% of these projects have been realized or are currently in production. Every year, the IFFR screens completed films supported by the Fund.

It is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dutch non-governmental development organizations Hivos and NCDO, the DOEN Foundation and Dutch public broadcasting network NPS.

The HBF supports training initiatives for filmmakers in Ethiopia, Philippines, Costa Rica and Uganda. In Armenia and the Philippines, the fund participates in co-production meetings and awards are granted to the most promising film projects.

The winners of IFFR's Hubert Bals Fund Spring 2008 are:

Post production

Be Calm and Count to 7, Ramtin Lavafipour - Iran

The Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly, Edwin - Indonesia

Baksy, Guka Omarova - Kazakhstan

Green Rocking Chair, Roxlee - Philippines

Tony Manero, Pablo Larraín - Chile

Moon at the Bottom of the Well, Nguyen Vinh Son - Vietnam

Turistas, Alicia Scherson - Chile

Er Dong, Yang Jin – China

Pandora’s Box, Yesim Ustaoglu – Turkey

Script development

Our Grand Despair, Seyfi Teoman - Turkey

Girimunho, Helvécio Marins Jr. - Brazil

Once Upon a Time in China, Cui Zi’en - China

Jean Gentil, Laura Amelia Guzmán & Israel Cárdenas - Dominican Republic/Mexico

Kalayaan, Adolfo Alix Jr. - Philippines

Kosmos, Ihor Podolchak - Ukraine

Circumstance, Maryam Keshavarz - Iran

Sur la planche, Leila Kilani – Morocco

Tanta agua, Ana Guevara & Leticia Jorge - Uruguay

Los ultimos cristeros, Matias Meyer - Mexico

Digital production

The Great Desaparecido, Lav Diaz - Phillippines

Lucía, Niles Atallah - Chile

That Year When We Were Young ; Tao Peng - China

One Day When the Rain Falls ; Ifa Isfansyah - Indonesia

Woman On Fire Looks for Water ; Woo Ming Jin - Malaysia

Distribution and special projects

War, Love, God and Madness ; Mohamed Al-Daradji - Iraq

Directors Across Borders (DAB Forum), Yerevan - Armenia