3 weeks ago
EXCLUSIVE: Ireland-UK shaper Mike Downey and Istanbul-based Emir Külal Haznevi person joined forces connected boutique movie financing outfit Saudade Ink to develop, nutrient and put successful arthouse cinema from crossed nan world.
The movie accumulation and improvement fund, which has been pulled together pinch a consortium of backstage individuals from Turkey and nan Middle East, is looking to walk up to €2 cardinal ($2.3m) a twelvemonth successful its first 2 years, making strategical investments of betwixt €150,000 and €200,000 successful individual projects.
Downey and Haznevi estimate that they will make investments successful 5 to 8 productions from starring world auteur board per year, pinch immoderate seed backing for development.
The brace will beryllium successful Cannes this twelvemonth scouting for imaginable investments and besides arsenic nan executive producers of Cannes Palme d’Or contenders Parallel Tales by Asghar Farhadi and All of a Sudden by Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
Saudade Ink consolidates a long-running accumulation narration betwixt Downey and Haznevi, who antecedently collaborated connected Agnieszka Holland’s Green Border and caller Oscar campaigner Franz, arsenic good arsenic specified auteur fare including Rajko Grlic’s It All Ends Here and Antonio Nuic’s Looping, which is group for world premiere later successful nan year.
“Emir and I person been moving together connected a wide scope of productions for a number of years now,” says erstwhile European Film Academy chair and Downey Ink Principal Downey.
“The clip had travel to formalize our business relationship, and nan coming together of nan movie money gave america nan perfect opportunity to do that. And what amended clip to do it than pinch a mates of our strategical investments being selected for title successful Cannes.”
“Our connections pinch talent astatine nan highest level, has been nan catalyst for nan bringing together of nan Saudade Ink. fund,” says Syrian—born, Istanbul-based Haznevi, “Our first investments person seen a low-risk strategy already carnivore consequence connected individual projects, ranging from Franz which had its world premiere successful Toronto arsenic good arsenic Green Border. We person had our 4 past films successful a statement each launched astatine FIAPF ‘A’ Class festivals, and nan commensurate income person resonated pinch our investors.”
Downey was antecedently CEO of London and Dublin-based Film and Music Entertainment and is nary alien to nan movie financing crippled having produced complete 100 films and launched his first accumulation institution connected nan German Stock Market astatine nan DAX Neuer Markt during its hey-day.
“We person contacts to European and world talent that is 2nd to nary and arsenic our caller output shows pinch my Girls connected Wire by Vivian Qu, from China successful Berlin Competition and Farhadi and Hamaguchi successful Cannes we tin entree talent astatine nan highest level. World cinema, successful nan consciousness of ‘world music’ has ever been my passion and it is reflected successful nan 100+ films I’ve made each complete nan world,’ he said
Haznevi was calved successful 1986 successful Syria. He graduated successful Cinema Studies astatine Marmara University and founded Saudade Film successful 2015. He has worked arsenic a creator and shaper successful much than 250 episodes for a wide assortment of Turkish and world TV including Türk Caz Standartlari Enstitüsü, and Muasir.
He and Downey are besides presently processing his first feature-length movie The Sun, The Moon and The Eleven Stars arsenic a director.
The brace Saudade Ink arsenic a book driven venture, pointing to their past activity connecting them pinch a scope of writers including James Ellroy, nan precocious Gunter Grass, Lee Hall (Billy Elliot), Colm Toibin, David Grossman, Thomas Keneally (Schindler’s List), IDA writer Rebecca Lenckiewicz, VICE Group laminitis and CEO Shane Smith.
The business is non-exclusive and Haznevi and Downey will still tally their ain individual slates done their respective companies Saudade and Downey Ink.
Haznevi has a number of projects presently successful accumulation and development. Downey continues his business pinch Sarka Cimbalova’s Prague-based Marlene Film pinch whom he collaborated connected nan past 3 Agnieszka Holland films, Franz, Green Border and Charlatan.
Further projects pinch Holland and Cimbalova are successful nan works. In addition, Downey’s screenplay adjustment of Albanian epistolary caller If I Were A Boy by Haki Stërmilli directed and co-written by Fatmir Koci, originates shooting successful nan precocious autumn of this year.
Other projects see characteristic documentary Don’t Stop Dreaming astir nan Rio de Janeiro Ballet arena Projeto ViDançar, which is owed to statesman accumulation this November. He besides has useful successful nan pipeline pinch Chinese head Vivian Qu.
No alien to moving pinch hi-end creation location talent, Downey worked intimately pinch a wide scope of movie makers during his 25 twelvemonth beingness connected nan committee of nan European Film Academy collaborating pinch nan likes of Wim Wenders, Istvan Szabo, Sir Ben Kingsley, Pawel Pawlikowski, David Mackenzie, Krysztof Zanussi, Krzysztof Zulawski, Humbert Balsam, Francis Boespflug, Ildiko Enyedi, Agnes Jaoui, Mika Kaurismaki, Cedric Klapisch, Domenico Procacci, and Jim Sheridan.
