24/01/2017 - In 2016, 15 minority co-productions were able to benefit from the support dished out by the Polish Film Institute via a special new fund created last year

Director Claire Denis, who will be co-producing her next film, High Life, with Poland

In order to encourage international productions, in 2016, the Polish Film Institute (PISF) started up a special fund dedicated to minority co-productions. The committee, chaired by director Andrzej Jakimowski, organised three sessions, during which a group of experts assessed 44 film projects seeking support, 15 of which received a positive response.

The main recipient, with €349,000 worth of backing, is High Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Claire Denis
film profile] by Claire Denis, co-produced by Poland via Madants together with Alcatraz Films (France), Pandora Film (Germany) and The Apocalypse Films (UK). Dovlatov by Russian director Alexey German Jr is being supported to the tune of €203,000 (the Polish co-producer being Message Film), and Under the Tree [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson
film profile] by Iceland's Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson, which is also being co-produced by Madants, picked up €86,000 in support. Among the other recipients are movies helmed by Greg Zglinski, Diego Lerman, Janis Nords, Etienne Kallos, Jan Hrebejk and Antonio Morabito.

As Robert Balinski, a member of the Polish Film Institute committee for minority co-productions, stressed, the fund is currently aimed more at young European cinema, emphasising cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe – particularly with the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria, Georgia and Ukraine. "We're obviously not overlooking the big European markets," he pointed out, "but an intense form of cooperation in our region will inevitably involve greater efficiency in terms of being a two-way street – in other words, it will involve more foreign support for Polish projects in future."

(Translated from French)