TorinoFilmLab assigns the TFL CO-PRODUCTION FUND 2026 to 3 fiction film projects – one second feature and 2 debuts: DAUGHTERS OF THE SEA by Filipina director Martika Ramirez Escobar, LOST FRAMES by Kosovar director Samir Karahoda, THE BEER GIRL IN YANGON by Burmese Sein Lyan Tun, who previously participated in FeatureLab 2023 with the same project.
The initiative – launched eight years ago thanks to the support of Creative Europe - MEDIA Sub-programme of the European Union – is addressed to advanced fiction, creative documentaries and animation feature projects that are international co-productions between countries that are part of the Creative Europe MEDIA strand and countries not participating in the MEDIA strand.
Greta Fornari, TFL Funds Curator & Community Coordinator, comments on the selection: «The three selected films, all from up-and-coming directors working on their debut or sophomore features, tell stories taking place across different continents, meeting at the crossroads of reality and dreams. These filmmakers explore unconventional worlds, responding to the challenges of our times with courage and imagination. We are honored to accompany them on their filmmaking journey and cannot wait to see their films come to life».
The Fund offers a €50,000 grant combined with consultancy sessions tailored to the needs of each project and led by international experts – a cornerstone of TFL’s approach – to accompany the film teams through the final stages of production.
This edition welcomes a team of internationally recognized consultant: Danish award-winning Sound Designer and Music supervisor Peter Albrechtsen, Evelyn Rack, the German editor behind Sound of Falling, renowned scriptwriter and script consultant from Romania Razvan Radulescu, and Italian Audience Design consultant Clara Miranda Scherfigg. In addition, Louise Marie Smith, founder and managing director of Neptune Sustainability Ltd, will guide each film team in making their productions more sustainable.
The selected teams will also have the opportunity to participate in the 19th TFL Meeting Event (26th, 27th and 28th November 2026, in Turin): the TFL’s co-production forum is attended every year by over 300 international professionals. In Turin, the participants will be guided in their pitch preparation by Daan Gielis and Esther Vandriesum.
The selected projects:
DAUGHTERS OF THE SEA by Martika Ramirez Escobar (she/her - Philippines) - 2nd feature film
Synopsis: Three women, bound by the ocean that separates the islands of the Philippine archipelago, must confront the missing pieces of their origins. Lucia (25), an endlessly curious museum tour guide in Manila, has never met her father and only knows he is Spanish. Isa (7), from a fishing village in Iloilo, has feared the sea since it suddenly took her mother away years ago. Delia (65), a solitary woman who runs a small fish shop in Pampanga, finds comfort only among her fish, never quite belonging among humans. Faced with these absences, a possible Spanish father, a mother returned from the sea, and a dying mermaid, they set out to discover who they truly are.
Production company: Upside Down Entertainment & Recreation / This Side Up Films (Philippines)
Co-production companies: Oceanika (Spain)
Person and company benefitting from the Fund: Alba Sotorra (Oceanika / Spain)
LOST FRAMES by Samir Karahoda (he/him - Kosovo) - 1st feature film
Synopsis: Besim, a funeral videographer in a small town in Kosovo, earns his living by filming and livestreaming ceremonies for family members who cannot attend. When he accidentally loses the footage of a wedding, he is pulled into a spiral of threats, debt and violence, while the fragile future he has built with his wife begins to collapse.
Production company: Ikone Studio (Kosovo)
Co-production companies: SK-Picture (Kosovo), Donkey Film (Germany), Donkey Studio (Austria), Kazak Production (France), OnFilm Production (Albania)
Person and company benefitting from the Fund: Mo Harawe, Alexander von Piechowski (Donkey Film / Germany)
THE BEER GIRL IN YANGON by Sein Lyan Tun (he/him - Burma) - 1st feature film
Synopsis: In Yangon, 17-year-old Phyu dreams of completing and singing on the radio the unfinished song of her father, a renowned songwriter imprisoned for criticising Myanmar’s military regime. Branded the daughter of a political prisoner, she secretly works in a night bar where prostitutes, soldiers and feared informers mingle, to support her mother. Befriended by Moon, a young woman dreaming of escaping to Thailand, Phyu keeps pursuing her dream despite every studio refusing to record her, until Zaw, the bar manager, offers to help. But her mother discovers that he is the informer who betrayed her husband, forcing Phyu to confront a devastating choice.
Production company: Kawan Kawan Media (Indonesia)
Co-production companies: In Vivo Films (France), Momo Film Co (Singapore), Loaded Films (Japan)
Person and company benefitting from the Fund: Louise Bellicaud, Claire Charles-Gervais (In Vivo Films / France)
Read the dedicated article on Screen International.
TFL Co-Production Fund is organised by TorinoFilmLab – Museo Nazionale del Cinema with the support of Creative Europe – MEDIA Sub-programme of the European Union.
In the picture: a still from The Beer Girl in Yangon.