14/02/2014 - The pan-Nordic fund has allocated €420,000 to improve the circulation of Nordic films across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden

Operating in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, the Nordisk Film & TV Fond has today launched four support initiatives “to improve the circulation of Nordic films across the region and respond to the fast change of distribution in the digital world”.

“As a pan-Nordic funding body, our responsibility is to boost audience choice and the availability of Nordic films across platforms and national borders in the Nordic countries,” said managing director Petri Kemppinen. The €420,000 investment doubles the fund’s backing of distribution measures.

“The Nordic films spreading throughout the region are better than ever – recently, Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Thomas Vinterberg
interview: Thomas Vinterberg
film profile] and Felix Herngren’s The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared [+see also:
trailer
film profile] have done extremely well. Still, it is a challenge to reach the younger audiences, for example, who are increasingly on new platforms.

“For some titles it is difficult to get a theatrical release, even though there would be an audience for them – this could be because of a lack of screens or because it is too costly. This is what we want to change while at the same time increasing the knowledge of Nordic cinema in all parts of the value chain,” Kemppinen added.

Digital Distribution Support should give Nordic films a better chance of being able to reach audiences through different platforms (VoD, mobile phones), either as an addition or an alternative to traditional cinema release and television broadcast.

Recruited Audience Screening Support is intended to allow Nordic distributors to assess the market potential of non-Nordic films that they are considering licensing with a ‘mini’ Recruited Audience Screening (with a subsidy covering screening costs and, if necessary, local subtitling).

Nordic Film Marketing Support has been designed to help distributors, with marketing specialists, to work exclusively on the theatrical and/or VoD release of between one and three Nordic films for up to a one-year period, with a focus on social media and younger audiences.

Nordic Film Promotion for Exhibitors will increase the awareness of Nordic films and talents among Nordic exhibitors: the fund will present a show reel of new films at distributor-exhibitor conventions in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

According to Kemppinen, the new initiatives are the result of a review of existing distribution support programmes – Single Distribution Support and Nordic High Five slate support (also amounting to €420,000) – and consultations with the film industry.