The International Film Festival Rotterdam's Hubert Bals Fund has named 20 projects to receive development grants for 2026, including a new project from Nelson Carlo de los Santos Arias, director of the acclaimed film Pepe. The fund's head, Tamara Tatishvili, said the increase in support is notable given that development funding is "increasingly under threat" globally, and highlighted a deliberate regional focus on areas often overlooked by film financiers.

Each of the 20 selected projects will receive a €10,000 (roughly $11,515) grant, up a third from the 15 projects funded in 2025. Eight projects were chosen with a specific focus on Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, including the fund's first-ever support for a North Macedonian project and two projects each from Ukraine and Serbia. Other recipients include Mongolian director Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir, whose City of Wind was Mongolia's 2024 international Oscar submission, alongside several IFFR alumni and a strong contingent of African filmmakers, with many projects exploring themes of displacement, migration and ageing.