Nordisk Panorama News
November 2014
Lots of Nordic Docs at IDFA – Meet Us There
At IDFA, the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, (19-30 November) no less than 30 films from the Nordic countries can be enjoyed in the different sections of the festival. They have been selected from 3,200 submissions and are among the 298 international titles selected. Nordisk Panorama will be there promoting Nordic docs through Nordisk Panorama Market Online.
The Nordic countries are also very well represented at IDFA Forum with 9 Nordic projects out of a total of 50 in the official selection. On top of this Varicella by Victor Kossakovsky, produced by Sant & Usant AS (NO) in co-production with Final Cut for Real (DK) and Story AB (SE) will be presented in a special case study as it is part of a six part Nordic documentary series for children. No less than 20% of the projects at IDFA Forum are Nordic and five of the projects have previously been presented at Nordisk Panorama Forum. We’re looking forward to following them at IDFA.
Katrine Kiilgaard and Christina Jul Gregersen will be at IDFA, both attending IDFA Forum where Christina will be present as a matchmaker, facilitating interaction between forum participants.
To set up a meeting with Katrine, send her an email or call her at +45 2042 4529. Reach Christina by email or at +45 6131 8539.
BRITDOC’s Impact Producer Lab Comes to the Nordic Countries
Good Pitch Europe will be coming to the Nordic region, taking place on 25 March 2015 in Oslo, Norway. In preparation for Good Pitch Europe in the Nordic countries, BRITDOC is hosting an Impact Producers Lab in Finland from 7-9 January 2015, specifically for Nordic professionals.
The Good Pitch programme connects high quality social justice films with new allies and partners, offering new funding and distribution opportunities; a model which has spread around the world over the last 7 years as the global community looks for new and sustainable opportunities to support independent documentary filmmaking.
In that time, the media and cultural landscape has shifted profoundly and more filmmakers have had the ambition to create impact with their work. Their success – including Nordic titles like Burma VJ, The Act Of Killing, Armadillo & Big Boys Gone Bananas!* – has created more interest in, and excitement about, the unique role films can play in social change.
Both in the US and Europe more funds are now available to pay for ‘outreach and engagement’ to ensure films hit their target audiences. Just as films have producers to manage the creative and financial process from script to screen, some films now need specialised impact producers to take the film from completion to impact. However, there is a shortage of professionals to handle this work.
The call for entries is open until tomorrow 21 November, looking for anyone from the Nordic countries eager to learn more about how to use documentary film as a tool for social or environmental change. The lab is looking to work with 8 established Nordic professionals from the worlds of film, campaigning, journalism, politics and marketing & PR.
Read more about the Impact Producer Lab here.
Danish Film Agreement in Place for 2015-18
More films, a stronger economy, more opportunities for talent and a doubling of the funding for computer games headline the four-year Danish Film Agreement passed unanimously on 6 November by all parties in the Danish Parliament.
The Film Agreement lays down the overall economic and film-policy framework for the work of the Danish Film Institute over the next four years, from 2015 to 2018.
More films: The DFI will introduce a support scheme for low-budget films where up to 12-24 low-budget films can be supported over the four-year period. This will lead to the production of 82-104 Danish feature films in total during the four years compared to 60-75 under the current agreement.
Strengthening the economy of Danish film: From 2015-2018 DKK 70 million (9.4m euros) will go into helping the Danish industry convert to digital film sales. The annual film budget will go from the current DKK 530 million (71m euros) to DKK 563 million (75,7m euros).
New opportunities for talents: Talents will be able to try their hand at the feature film format with the new low-budget scheme while New Danish Screen will continue to enable talent development in all genres and formats and on all platforms with a minimum budget of DKK 128 million (17,2m euros) over the period.
Double up on support for video games: The funding for video games will be doubled from DKK 20 million to 40 million (5.4m euros) during this period. The Danish Film Institute will establish a games office that will distribute funds and assist in fostering an innovative game environment in Denmark.
Henrik Bo Nielsen, CEO of the Danish Film Institute, says about the new Film Agreement:
“We are delighted that the Parliament was unanimous in affirming once again its strong support for Danish film and for a flexible funding system. A stable framework is important to ensure the continued good results of Danish films.”
“This new agreement sends a crucial signal that the politicians recognise the strained economic challenges for Danish film and have decided to let the state lead the way by making a substantial economic contribution while putting pressure on the industry players to initiate new business solutions.”
4th Finnish NP Town Hall Discusses Outreach
The 4th Finnish Nordisk Panorama Town Hall took place on Thursday 13 November in collaboration with Helsinki Short Film Festival. The subject up for discussion was “Organizations, associations and the film community: support opportunities, distribution and new audiences”.
The NP Town Hall was moderated by producer Miia Haavisto with panelists from the Finnish Slot Machine Association, Greenpeace, Kone Foundation, Church Media Fund and the Finnish Music Foundation. The Town Hall was hosted by Sami Jahnukainen, producer of films like The Punk Syndrome and Once I Dreamt of Life and also vice chairman of the Nordisk Panorama board.
Once again the town hall was very well attended. More than 30 professionals were present and actively took part in the discussion, which confirms the need and will of the industry to gather around important issues under the umbrella of the NP Town Hall.
Also a new member of the Finnish NP reference group was selected at the event. We thank producer & artistic director of DocPoint, Ulla Simonen for her years as a great member of the NP reference group and welcome director Selma Vilhunen to the group from 2015.
EDN Develops Pitching Sessions with New Outreach Initiative
EDN – European Documentary Network is launching a new outreach initiative in connection with the two Southern European pitching forums, Docs in Thessaloniki and Lisbon Docs, two of the EDN’s longest running pitching forums.
The new format will select the top projects from each forum and bring them together in a post-event session taking place as an online workshop.
Focus for the session will be how the selected project teams can handle the increased need to combine new financing methods and alternative distribution methods with more traditional public funding sources. The intention is to strengthen the understanding of audience building and outreach for the top-level projects coming from Docs in Thessaloniki and Lisbon Docs.
Further details about the new EDN outreach initiative are available at the EDN web site in connection with Docs in Thessaloniki 2015.
Pan-European Distribution Initiative Moving Docs Calls for Films
Moving Docs is a new EDN initiative, supported by Creative Europe, where five documentaries will be screened across Europe by eight partners, via a maximum of venues and platforms. The initiative will screen films that have the ability to engage and connect, transform our lives, and help bring about social change.
The aim of Moving Docs is to create innovative outreach strategies and provide opportunities for urban and rural European audiences to enjoy regular screenings of documentary films through a wide variety of media and platforms.
Moving Docs is now calling for films which take on issues relevant to our contemporary lives, focusing on culture, environment, politics, climate change, as well as general human and social stories. In order for a documentary to be eligible for Moving Docs it has to be European and come from countries participating in the MEDIA sub-programme.
The deadline for submitting documentaries to Moving Docs is 6 January 2015. Films with strong and viable outreach ideas are preferred. Films must be ready by 30 June 2015 at the latest and must be at the stage of a rough cut by the submission deadline.
Read more at the EDN website.
Names in the News
Who’s where now. Here are some of the headlines about names in the news:
- Gréta Ólafsdóttir Ends Her Time with IFC
- Sabine Bubeck-Paaz Head of Studies at ESoDoc
- Klara Grunning & Antonio Russo Merenda New Doc Consultants at SFI
- Erkko Lyytinen to Succeed Iikka Vehkalahti at Yle
Nordic Award Winners of 2014 So Far
Nordic short films and documentaries take home awards all over the world. Check out the Nordic short and doc award winners of 2014 here. If your film is missing on the list, please let us know.
Dates & Deadlines Coming Up
Don’t be late! Find upcoming international deadlines for shorts & docs festivals, workshops, funding opportunities and much more here!