High Five scheme gives 19 Nordic films an extra boost abroad
by Annika Pham
World distributors of 19 Nordic films get extra cash
Thirteen international distributors will be able to spend more on releasing Susanne Bier’s In a Better World [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in their territories thanks to special distribution grants from Nordisk Film & TV Fond’s High Five International Cinema Distribution scheme.
The grants range from a minimum €2,000, for Hong Kong’s First Distributors, to €14,000 for Germany’s Universum, which will launch the Oscar-winning film in 70 cinemas on March 17.
Beatriz Ardaiz Ilundain of Golem Distribution, which received €9,000 towards the film’s theatrical Spanish release on April 1, said: “The support we received for In a Better World will be used to make a larger number of prints (40 in total) with more effective marketing and promotion in order to raise the want-to-see factor from audiences.”
An overall 42 grants worth €220,000 were allocated by Nordisk Film & TV Fond in its second official round of High Five International Cinema Distribution support, for the international release of 19 Nordic films outside the Nordic region. After In a Better World, the second largest number of grants went to Armadillo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Janus Metz, director of Arm…
film profile] (five), Submarino [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Thomas Vinterberg
film profile] and King of Devil’s Island [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (three each).
France received the most grants (six), followed by Belgium (five), Switzerland (four), Germany and Poland (three each). All grants – consisting of top-up financing not subject to reimbursement – were allotted based on the distributors’ minimum guarantees, the size of the P&A budgets and the creative marketing strategies.
Ivana Kosulicova of CinemArt Distribution , which will release Icelandic film Mamma Gógó [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in the Czech Republic and Slovakia at the end of this month, added: “High Five support means that we can afford more marketing to promote the film. Since theatrical distribution is extremely expensive, there is usually not much money left for promotion. We can now afford larger radio campaigns and more advertisement that should help attract audiences.”
Nordisk Film & TV Fond’s High Five International Cinema Distribution Support scheme is financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ globalization fund.
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