Franco-German committee grants €1.24m to prestigious directors

by B.P.

31/03/2010 - At its latest funding allocation session, held on March 29 in Berlin, the Franco-German committee granted a total of €1.24m to six co-productions: three majority German and three majority French.

The first three films are: Töte Mich by Emily Atef (The Stranger in Me [trailer]), which obtained €180,000 in backing for Cologne-based Wüste Film West (68%) and €70,000 for Ciné-Sud Promotion (22%); UFO in Her Eyes by Xiaolu Guo (Golden Leopard at the latest Locarno Film Festival for She, a Chinese [trailer]), which is 80% produced by Fatih Akin’s Hamburg-based company, Corazón International (€150,000 in backing), while the rest of the budget is covered by Paris outfit Les Petites Lumières (€40,000); and Playoff by Eran Riklis (who won numerous awards for The Syrian Bride and Lemon Tree [trailer]), which is 57% co-produced by Berlin-based Egoli Tossell Film (The Last Station [trailer], Hilde [trailer]; €150,000 in backing) in collaboration with Parisian companies Exception Wild Bunch and Fidelité Films (€100,000).

The majority French projects selected for funding also involve prestigious directors, including Bertrand Tavernier’s La Princesse de Montpensier [trailer], which is 90% produced by Paradis Films (€150,000 in backing) and 10% by Cologne-based Pandora (€50,000); and Benoît Jacquot’s Hypnose (“Hypnosis”), which is 90% produced by Paris-based Ciné-@ SAS and Passionfilms (€150,000), and 10% by Germany’s Egoli Tossell Film (€40,000).

Finally, the committee granted €100,000 to Parisian company Dolce Vita Films (66%) and €60,000 to Cologne’s unafilm e.K. (34%) for Xavier Simon’s The Shadow Master.

The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for May 12.

(Translated from French)