22/11/2007

The Swedish Film Institute’s support to the import of quality foreign films will double starting next year, according to the institute’s new plan to strengthen the distribution and exhibition of quality foreign and Swedish films, announced on Tuesday.

“The rapid technological changes, new audience behaviour patterns and the higher market concentration in the exhibition sector have created totally new market conditions for film in Sweden,” said Institute CEO Cissi Elwin. “With this as a backdrop, we have examined our support so that, within the new landscape, we can still carry out our mandate in the best possible way.”

Based on in-depth research within the industry and on a report commissioned to Swedish consultancy firm Andante-Tools for Thinking, which provided a snapshot of its existing support system worth approximately SEK44m (€2.7m), the SFI has drawn up a short and longer-term plan to improve the local distribution of quality foreign and Swedish films.

The key elements for the short term plan include a 50% increase of the current support to the import of quality films (from SEK3.7m to around SEK6.7m) and is split in two parts: one for single films and one for a slate of films allocated on a yearly basis.

Priority will be given to innovative distribution and marketing techniques to reach the audience for Swedish short, feature and documentary films, the promotion of legal distribution on the internet, an increase in the current SEK2.1m grant to festivals, with a bigger share allocated towards high profile festivals of national interest, and support for the modernisation of cinema equipment, including pilot projects for digital distribution.

The long-term plan includes ongoing efforts to implement the digitalisation of screens, better collaboration with the regions and boroughs to put film on the cultural agenda and, most importantly, a more focused and centralised support system for distribution and exhibition with a drastic reduction of the current areas of support from 12 to three – to increase the distribution of Swedish films, to encourage the distribution of quality films and to strengthen the exhibition sector overall.