17/02/2003

Scandinavia’s traditional support for children’s films once again paid dividends when Kald mig bare Aksel (Wallah be) by Denmark’s Pia Bovin won the Berlinale Kinderfilmfest section and a cash prize of Euros7,500. An animated Franco-Danish co-production called The Boy Who Wanted To Be a Bear by Jannik Hastrup got a Special Mention while Sweden’s Elina by Klaus Haro won the Crystal Bear for best feature.
Wallah Be was produced by Zentropa and sold by Trust Film Sales, The Boy... was produced by Dansk Tegnefilm 2's Marie Bro and Didier Brunner, with France Télévision Distribution handling sales with Nordisk Film International Sales handling Elina.
Denmark lead the field with three features and one short selected for the Kinderfilmfest programme. According to the Danish Film Institute (DFI), who invested in all the above projects, “this is partly due to the subsidy system that ensures that 25 per cent of film subsidies are earmarked for films for children and young people”.

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