The Gold Rush Pictures Berlinale Talents Lab Awards
We partnered with Berlinale Talents because they are a vital engine for artistic discovery – and we’re very proud to share our first three awardees under this grant. Marcel, Subarna, and Aliaksei are all exceptionally talented, each bringing a distinctive voice and projects brimming with potential – and it’s a privilege to support their films as they come to fruition, and to welcome them to Cannes this year. Together with the Berlinale Talents, we are building this initiative into a lasting platform for emerging filmmakers, and through our support, we hope to see its alumni go on to have their projects selected by major festivals like this one.Vladimir Zemtsov, Founder of Gold Rush Pictures
The Gold Rush Pictures Berlinale Talents Lab Awards 2026
Selected from 18 projects within this year’s Berlinale Talents Lab cohort, filmmakers Marcel Beltrán, Subarna Dash and Aliaksei Paluyan have each been awarded €5,000 development grants alongside support for their attendance at the Cannes Film Festival. Their projects - Vicissitudes of Light, In Heat, on Loop and Incubator - were recognised for their originality, emotional depth and distinctive cinematic voices.
The awards were judged by a distinguished jury appointed by Gold Rush Pictures, featuring acclaimed British screenwriter and director Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Austrian-German filmmaker Feo Aladag and renowned German director Tom Tykwer.
Read Gold Rush Pictures' interviews with the inaugural Golden Eggs Award winners here.
Jury Statement
A bold and exhilarating animated project by Subarna Dash that leaps off the page and announces a singular cinematic voice. It unfolds as an outrageously exciting mix of genre, style, and self-exploration. With its striking originality, emotional depth, passion and inventive visual language, it promises a film that is both surprising and deeply personal. Infused with amazing colours and sensuality it is a startling, muscular and beautiful vision we are keen to see fully realized on screen.
Find out more about the project here.
Jury Statement
A striking and deeply human portrait by Aliaksei Paluyan of a woman pushed to the edge by political and economic realities beyond her control. As politics and love converge, the film traces a journey marked by resilience, heartbreak, and the impossible choices forced upon women in extremis. Its authenticity and urgency struck us. It promises to be both intimate intense, whilst epic and universal in its subject matter. Incubator is profoundly resonant and has the potential to translate lived experience into powerful cinema.
Find out more about the project here.
Jury Statement
A gripping and highly original archival documentary by Marcel Beltrán that interrogates the power of images and the fragility of authorship. Through an approach that allows a silenced artistic voice to reemerge, it moves between memory, erasure, and reconstruction, exploring the moment when image-making itself becomes a threat, and when the system an artist helped shape turns against its creator. With striking contemporary relevance, the project speaks directly to our present moment of contested images and controlled narratives. Rich in wonder and mystery, it raises profound questions about society, art, and legacy, and promises a film of both intellectual and emotional depth and lasting impact.
Find out more about the project here.