11/09/2007

European Film Promotion (EFP), the pan-European agency of the continent's film promotion boards, again returns to the Toronto International Film Festival with a program of support for European filmmakers and sales agents. For this year's edition, 39 European films will benefit from the Film Sales Support (FSS) initiative sponsored by EFP. Twenty-six different European sales agents and production companies are receiving support for the promotion of 39 European films in all major categories of this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

For the third year, FSS, which is backed by the MEDIA Programme of the European Union, is helping to increase the visibility of European films at the "gateway to the North American market". The supported films account for a third of the festival’s European program, including ten French, four German, four Danish, two British and five Spanish films as well as films from various other European countries, including Eastern Europe (with Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary represented). Half of the supported films are celebrating their World Premieres in Toronto, including Gone With The Woman [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Norway, Petter Naess), Silent Resident (Austria, Christian Frosch), Battle For Haditha (UK, Nick Broomfield), It's a Free World (UK, Ken Loach - interview) and Just Like Home [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Denmark, Lone Scherfig). Two new documentaries are included: The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories (Audrey Paounov) and Algeria: Unspoken Stories (Jean-Pierre Liedo). Also included is an animation feature, Nocturna [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Victor Maldonado and Adrià Garcia.

The following directors are traveling to Toronto with the help of FSS:

Claude Chabrol ( A Girl Cut in Two [+see also:
trailer
film profile])
Carlos Saura (Fados [+see also:
trailer
film profile])
Manoel de Oliviera (Christopher Columbus, The Enigma [+see also:
trailer
film profile])
Béla Tarr (The Man from London [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile])
Julio Medem (Chaotic Ana)
Lone Scherfig (Just Like Home [+see also:
trailer
film profile])
Silvio Soldini (Days and Clouds [+see also:
trailer
film profile])
Victor Maldonado and Adrià Garcia (Noctuna [+see also:
trailer
film profile])
Jirí Vejdelek (Roming [+see also:
trailer
film profile])
Michelange Quay (Eat, For This Is My Body [+see also:
trailer
film profile])
Jacob Thuesen (Erik Nietzche, The Early Years)
Hiner Saleem (Beneath the Rooftops of Paris [+see also:
trailer
film profile])

Companies attending the Toronto Film Festival with support of the Film Sales Support initiative include: AB Svensk Filmindustri (Sweden), Adriana Chiesa Enterprises (Italy), Agitprop (Bulgaria), Bavaria Media (Germany), Coach14 (France), Colifilms (France), Fandango Portobello Sales (UK), Filmax (Spain), Fortissimo Films (The Netherlands), Hanway Films (UK), Kid Film (Poland), Latido Films (Spain), Mediapro Distribution (Romania), Memento Films International (France), Mer-kel Film (Hungary), MK2 (France), Nordisk Film International Sales (Denmark), Pathé International (UK), Pyramide International (France), Rezo Films (France), Silkroad Production (France), Sogepaq (Spain), The Match Factory (Germany), Trust Film (Denmark), Wide Management (France) and Wild Bunch (France).

As in previous years, EFP hosts a European Umbrella Stand, located at the Festival Sales & Industry Office at the Sutton Place Hotel and is also sponsoring its annual Cocktail Reception on Sunday, September 9th......one of the most fun and "buzz-worthy" get-togethers of the Toronto Film Festival.