08/02/2008

The Oslo-based Nordisk Film & TV Fond (NFTF), which aims to support high-quality film and TV productions from Scandinavia, has increased its partners from 15 to 17 and appointed a new board of directors.

The two new partners are the commercial broadcasters Channel 4/Nelonen in Finland and Kanal 5 in Sweden.

Hanne Palmquist, CEO of the NFTF, explained the benefits of these additional two partners: “One of our key guidelines for funding is that producers must have a broadcasting contract with one or more of our partners. The addition of Channel 4 and Kanal 5 brings our broadcasting partners from nine to 11, so this increases the number of potential investors production companies can seek funding from.”

Palmquist also added: “Often, it’s the last piece of the financial puzzle that makes the whole project a ‘go’ and the importance of this is something we are keenly aware of.”

The 18-year-old NFTF has an annual budget of NOK71.5m (€8.9m), provided in equal parts by the Nordic Council, the Nordic film institutes and selected Nordic broadcasters. Last year, as many as 140 projects/initiatives were supported, including 31 feature films, 13 TV dramas and series, and 31 documentaries.

Among them are the award-winning films The Art of Crying [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Denmark), The King of Ping Pong [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Sweden), Berlinale competition title Black Ice [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kai Nordberg
interview: Petri Kotwica
film profile] from Finland, and Iceland’s The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela [+see also:
trailer
film profile], also at Berlin but in the Panorama sidebar.

The NFTF’s new board of directors include Chairwoman Charlotta Denward (Swedish Film Institute), Deputy Chairman Petri Kemppinen (Finnish Film Foundation), Claus Ladegaard (Danish Film Institute), Laufey Gudjonsdottir (Icelandic Film Centre) and Annika Bjørnstad (NRK, Norway).