09/03/2005

Cooperation Agreement between Flanders and the Netherlands The first Flemish and Dutch co-productions to be envisaged under the recent cooperation agreement between the Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds (VAF) and the Nederlands Fonds voor de Film (NFF) have just received official approval.
The two projects which will receive a € 200 000 premium from the other country to support production are The Colour Of Water by Peter Brosens and Jessica Woodworth, and Blind by Tamar van den Dop.
In December 2004, an agreement was signed by the VAF and the NFF to organise funding for feature films. The idea is to promote common cultural projects and make structural improvements to encourage further collaboration between both countries. The system decided upon allows feature films already supported by their own country to receive more help from the other.
A commission uniting both parties, Flanders and the Netherlands, will meet three times a year to grant a € 200 000 premium to two co-productions, one in which the major producer is Belgian, and one with a predominantly Dutch participation.
The first selection has just been made in Amsterdam, and the two above-mentionned projects were elected. The Colour Of Water is produced in Flanders by The Ice House, and its Dutch coproducer is Lemming Film. VAF granted it a € 675.000 support, to which we can add the € 200.000 from the NFF. Blind is produced in the Netherlands by Phanta Vision Development ; its Belgian partner is MMG. The NFF allowed it a sum of € 463.780, to which the VAF now adds € 200.000.

(Translated from French)