04/04/2006

At a ceremony held March 30 at the Academy of Arts in Berlin, the FFA (Filmförderungsanstalt) (German film promotion board) awarded the 2005 Industry Tigers and distributed a total of €19.7m.

As in 2003 and 2004 — and despite last week's results that reveal a relatively disappointing 2005, with revenues down by 13.5% — it was Constantin who triumphed in both the production (€2.8m of subsidies) and distribution categories (€676,000), to receive a total of almost €3.5m in subsidies for future projects.

Second and third prizes in the production category went to SamFilm (€1.7m) and Babelsberg Films (€1.2m) respectively.

This year, special recognition for international presence (festivals and awards won) went to X-Filme Creative Pool, for Go For Zucker! [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Agnes und seine Brüder, and Erfurter Kinderfilm for The Blind Flyers. These new criteria alone have also attracted 20% (more than €3m) of sums allocated by the FFA.

For distributors, the amount of subsidies depends in theory on the number of viewers per film. In total, €3.34m has been allocated to 80 distribution companies, with Constantin in first position, followed by X Verleih (€515,000) and Buena Vista International (€402,000).

This year, FFA funds will be distributed as follows: 66% for feature films, 27% for children's films, and 7% for documentaries. Almost €700,000 went to 59 shorts.

(Translated from French)