The IDFA Bertha Fund (IBF) has awarded €30,000 in distribution support to The Earth Is Blue as an Orange, the award-winning film from Ukrainian director Iryna Tsilyk. Secured through the IBF Europe – Distribution track, the grant will support the film’s upcoming release in Ukraine, Lithuania, and the Western Balkans.
Tsilyk’s film, which documents one family’s filmmaking efforts amid the ongoing Ukrainian war, first came IDFA’s way in 2018 when it participated in IDFAcademy Summer School for script development. The project went on to receive production support and international co-production support from the IDFA Bertha Fund in 2019. By the end of 2020, the film had screened at 46 festivals around the world, beginning with a Sundance world premiere where it picked up the award for best directing.
Now, as Tsilyk and her team look ahead to the next phase, the new round of IBF support will help finance the film’s distribution in 10 countries throughout Central and Eastern Europe, with an eye to maximizing impact in the face of COVID-19 restrictions.
The film’s Ukrainian distribution, following a theatrical run cut short by the pandemic, is set to continue with producer Albatros Communicos and distributor Arthouse Traffic via specialized film club screenings and releases on VOD and Ukrainian public television.
In Lithuania, co-producer Moonmakers and distributor Kino Pasaka are gearing up for theatrical release, VOD, television, and wide-spread screenings in independent film schools, making use of a flexible timeline to be adapted to COVID-19 restrictions.
Beldocs is overseeing the Western Balkans with a distribution strategy that combines theatrical release, television, outdoor screenings, and digital platforms across Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Albania.
The IDFA Bertha Fund selection committee included Andrea Hock (Director of Sales at Autlook Filmsales GmbH), Liselot Verbrugge (Sales Agent at Deckert Distribution) and Isabel Arrate Fernandez (Deputy Director of IDFA, Managing Director of the IDFA Bertha Fund).
