New Projects from Abu-Assad, Terrence Davies, Kevin Macdonald at the IFF

Lots of glossy business cards will be exchanged during the 4th edition of International Financing Forum (IFF) (which takes place during TIFF). In what I imagine is like a speed dating between producers looking for coin and those looking to finance the next hot film project. There are a slew of names/projects from established filmmakers (Hany Abu-Assad, Terrence Davies and Kevin Macdonald) and some first-time directors among the 43 listed below that have caught over attention.

Hany Abu-Assad is taking on what I imagine would be a controversial biopic – attaching himself to Arafat with his Paradise Now producer, Roman Paul. Paul produced Waltz with Bashir, and the upcoming (we’ll be talking about this one in 2010), Womb. 

I’d be surprised if Tony Grisoni took a day off in the past 24 months, he has penned a truck load of projects and would embark on his feature filmmaking debut with Kingsland. Kate Ogborn produces. Terrence Davies is looking to make Lady Into Ice his next project with producer David Collins on board.

Not sure if this has to do with Germany’s great highway system, but docu & television producer Krysanne Katsoolis is looking to find some coin for a project called Autobahn, with Neil LaBute on board to direct.

Peter Broughan is packaging a U.K project for Kevin Macdonald called Justified Sinner, while fellow countryman Ralph Fiennes is looking to get into his sister’s profession. He’d make his directing debut with Coriolanus which Julia Taylor-Stanley (The Tempest) would produce.

Those who remember the Oscar-winning, NFB short film from Chris Landreth (Ryan) will be happy to know that he’ll be looking to get Lovecraft into motion. Steve Hoban (Young People Fucking) is the project’s producer. 

Here’s the full list of projects:.. 

Arafat
Producer: Roman Paul, Writer/Director: Hany Abu-Assad (Germany)

Autobahn
Producer: Krysanne Katsoolis, Writer/Director: Neil LaBute (USA)

Blood Makes Noise
Producer: Arabella Page Croft, Writer/Director: Steve Barker (UK)

Bone
Producer: Paul Stevens, Writer/Director: Ryan Redford (Canada)

Breaking into Houses and Stealing Things
Producer: Marc Boothe, Writer/Director: Ursula Rani Sarma (UK)

Buddha’s Little Finger
Producer: Karsten Stöter, Writer/Director: Tony Pemberton (Germany)

The Circus
Producer: Leah Churchill-Brown; Writer/Director: Emma Freeman (Australia)

Coriolanus
Producer: Julia Taylor-Stanley, Director: Ralph Fiennes (UK)

The Darkest Hour
Producer: Angus Lamont, Writer: David Greig (UK)

Dying Inside
Producer: Cyriac Auriol, Writer/Director: Bruno Merle (France)

Echo Horror
Producer: Paula Devonshire, Michael DeCarlo (Canada)

Enter The Cipher
Producer: Damon D’Oliviera, Director: Clement Virgo (Canada)

Fanfare
Producer: Jodi Matterson; Director: Darren Ashton (Australia)

Justified Sinner
Producer: Peter Broughan, Director: Kevin Macdonald (UK)

A Killing in the Woods
Producer: Al Clarke, Writer: Marcus Shephard (UK)

Kingsland
Producer: Kate Ogborn, Writer/Director: Tony Grisoni (UK)

Koofi In Wonderland
Producer: Mark Johnston, Writer/Director: Mazdak Taebi (Canada)

Kush Kush In the Bush
Producer: Liz Jarvis, Writer: Reecca Sernasie (Canada)

Lady Into Ice
Producer: David Collins, Writer/Director: Terrence Davies (Ireland)

The Lizard Cage
Producer: Jennifer Kawaja, Writer: David Vainola (Canada)

Longfellow
Producer: Luca Matrundola, Writer/Director: Martin Donovan (Canada)

Lovecraft
Producer: Steve Hoban, Writer/Director: Chris Landreth (Canada)

Mad Dog and the Weasel
Producer: Pierre Sarrazin, Director: Jerry Ciccoritti (Canada)

Malabar Court
Producer: Paul Scherzer, Writer/Director: Niara Modi (Canada)

Midnight’s Children
Producer: David Hamilton, Director: Deepa Mehta, co-writer with Salman Rushdie (Canada)

The Odds
Producer: Michael Dobbin, Director: Matt West (Canada)

Oma
Producer: Julia Rosenberg, Director: Erik Canuel (Canada)

The Retreat
Producer: Sean Cisterna, Director: Sean Cisterna (Canada)

The Return of the Fabulous 7
Producer: Judy Holm, Writer: Brian Drader (Canada)

A Scientific Romance
Producer: Anna Stratton; Writer: Ryan Knighton (Canada)

Small Town Murder Scenes
Producer: Lee Kim, Writer/Director: Ed Gass-Donnelly (Canada)

Somebody Else
Producer: Andrew Boutilier, Writer/Director: Erik Finkel (Canada)

Sugar Baby
Producer: Leonardo Monteiro de Barros, Writer/Director: Bruno Murtinho (Brazil)

Ten Thunders
Producer: Sarah Timmons; Director: Craig David Wallace (Canada)

Terminal Care
Producer: Martin Paul-Hus; Writer/Director: Karim Hussain (Canada)

The Thousand Deaths of Anna Mae Wong
Producer: Doug Pettigrew, Writer/Director: Thom Fitzgerald (Canada)

The Time of Their Lives
Producer: Sarah Sulick, Writer/Director: Roger Goldby (UK)

Tidy Darts
Producer: Mark John, Writer/Producer: Phillip John (UK)

Twenty Summers
Producer: Don Linke, Writer/Director: Jeremy Stanford (Australia)

Untitled
Producer: Jamie Hilton; Writer/Director: Michael Petroni (Australia)

The Whistler
Producer: Cathy Overett, Writer/Director: Greg Woodland (Australia)

Woman In A Bar
Producer: Ignacio Salazar-Simpson, Writer/Director: Rafa Russo (Spain)

The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom
Producer: Barbara Shrier, Writer/Director: Tara Johns (Canada)