The Story⚡
Three African film projects from Nigeria, Morocco and Ethiopia have each received €60,000 from the Hubert Bals Fund’s HBF+Europe schemes. The International Film Festival Rotterdam announced the selections on 17 March 2026.
Tell Me More
The Hubert Bals Fund, the international co-financing arm of the International Film Festival Rotterdam, has awarded €60,000 each to eight film projects through its HBF+Europe schemes, backed by the European Union’s Creative Europe MEDIA programme. Among the recipients are three African productions that span post-production and minority co-production support.
Dear Ajayi
Directed by Damilola Orimogunje, Dear Ajayi is the only African feature project selected for post-production support. Set in late-1990s Ibadan, the drama follows two estranged sisters who return home to care for their paralysed mother after a family tragedy. Forced to live under the same roof, they confront grief, ambition and long-buried family secrets. This is Orimogunje’s second feature after his 2020 debut, For Maria Ebun Pataki.
The Nigeria-Germany co-production has Mayana Films as the applicant producer; principal photography is complete, and the grant will support finishing work.
Don’t Let The Sun Go Up On Me
Moroccan director Asmae El Moudir receives minority co-production support for her hybrid documentary.
The project follows Meriem as she honours her late sister Fatimazahra’s wish. Fatimazahra lived with xeroderma pigmentosum, a rare genetic condition that made sunlight life-threatening and forced her to live a largely nocturnal life as one of the “Children of the Moon.”
Meriem gathers members of the community to travel to Norway’s Lofoten Islands during the polar night so they can experience daylight. The film is a Morocco-France-Norway-Denmark-Chile co-production with Haut et Court Doc as lead applicant producer. It follows El Moudir’s previous feature The Mother of All Lies, which won awards at Cannes in 2023.
The Last Tears of the Deceased
Ethiopian filmmaker Beza Hailu Lemma’s feature also receives minority co-production support. It centres on a newly ordained Orthodox priest who sets out on a dreamlike journey across Ethiopia to investigate the truth about his own reported childhood death and resurrection. The quest challenges his faith, memory and the teachings of the church. The project is an Ethiopia-Canada-Germany-France co-production with Die Gesellschaft DGS (Germany) as the applicant producer. Lemma’s short film Alazar (2024) premiered in Cannes Critics’ Week and received awards at FESPACO and the Red Sea International Film Festival.
In Summary
The three African projects form part of the eight-title slate announced on 17 March 2026. Dear Ajayi advances in post-production while the Moroccan and Ethiopian titles move forward with European minority co-producers. The grants provide vital financing for filmmakers from the continent.
No release dates have been announced yet.
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