05/08/2025 - The fund is expanding its development scheme through German-Nordic collaboration thanks to a new programme involving five Nordic film institutes

Following the successful first year of its NEST initiative, the MOIN Film Fund Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein has announced the launch of Nordic NEST, a new script development programme initiated in collaboration with five Nordic film institutes and supported by Germany’s FFA.

Nordic NEST builds on the foundation laid by the original NEST programme, which has supported 75 projects since 2024 and allocated nearly €3 million in development funding. The new initiative focuses on fostering German-Nordic co-development for feature films and high-end series, offering up to €80,000 per project.

The programme is supported by The Five Nordics – a strategic alliance comprising the Danish Film Institute, the Finnish Film Foundation, the Icelandic Film Centre, the Norwegian Film Institute and the Swedish Film Institute. Producer applications open on 6 August, with writer submissions following in October. The initiative will launch during the Filmfest Hamburg Industry Days (29 September-2 October), in cooperation with the Produktionsallianz, where 30 producers from Germany and the Nordic countries will convene for a dedicated networking event.

A central component of Nordic NEST is the NEST Space residency, set to take place in January on the Baltic coast of Schleswig-Holstein. Five experienced writers – from both Germany and the Nordic countries – will be selected, each with a track record of at least two commercially released features or series episodes. In collaboration with the French initiative Le Groupe Ouest, they will further develop their ideas during a five-day creative retreat. The process continues at the Göteborg Film Festival (23 January-1 February), where participants will meet 20 selected producers.

Projects that secure both a German and a Nordic co-producer will be eligible for up to €20,000 in treatment development support. Additionally, three projects will be awarded further script development grants of up to €60,000 each. The completed projects will be presented at European Work in Progress during Filmfest Hamburg in autumn 2026.

The launch of Nordic NEST follows the strong reception of the original NEST programme, introduced by MOIN in January 2024 and officially launched in June that year to support script development for writers based in northern Germany. As of July, MOIN has invested €2.95 million through the initiative.

MOIN CEO Helge Albers commented: “NEST is a true game changer in our funding offer. With nearly 100 submissions per round, it’s clear there’s strong demand for new approaches to story development. We've created a model that – especially in the age of AI – places human creativity and collaboration front and centre. NEST encourages writers to take as many creative risks as possible at the early stages, while providing fair financial support for the process. But one of the most exciting results of NEST is only now becoming visible: the community of former participants, who are involved in selecting future projects and may well become the most valuable development resource our region has to offer.”

The programme offers two distinct strands: NEST Space and NEST Classic. Since its inception, NEST Space has supported 47 projects, with an average grant of over €58,000 – more than double the €26,000 average awarded under MOIN’s previous development model in 2023. The strand is anchored by a residency in Schleswig-Holstein, where writers collaborate with Le Groupe Ouest and subsequently gain access to the NEST Tools, which can provide additional funding of up to €150,000, depending on the project. All NEST Space recipients become members of the NEST Community – a growing network of creatives actively engaged in the programme’s evolution. Community management is now overseen by producer Paulina Toenne. In parallel, 28 projects have received support through NEST Classic, a lighter, one-off grant of €7,500 aimed at early-stage development and emerging talent.