During the Rome Film Festival, the German Federal Film Board (FFA) and the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (MiBACT) launched a new Co-production Development Fund in order to increase the collaboration between German and Italian filmmakers. The new fund will be started in 2015 and will have an annual budget of up to €100,000 to support the development of promising German-Italian co-productions at a very early stage.

“Despite the strength of the theatrical market in both countries and the geographical proximity, there are only a few bilateral co-productions between Germany and Italy,” stated FFA chairman Peter Dinges. “The intensive talks between the FFA and the Italian ministry primarily, but also the strong demand from producers from both countries to work together, had an important impact on the will to set up this fund. My Italian colleague Nicola Borrelli and I heeded the signs from politics and industry. We are delighted to say that we will shortly come up with an attractive support system for closer cooperation between these two countries in the film sector.”

The German-Italian Co-production Development Fund will support projects that have a potential draw for German and Italian cinemagoers – but also for the theatrical market internationally – with an amount of up to €30,000. The fund, which is backed by the FFA and MiBACT with €50,000 each, is intended to increase collaboration between producers on a common project. Furthermore, this measure aims to build up networks among creative filmmakers in both countries.

Applications for project support from the German-Italian Co-production Development Fund will be possible via the FFA from mid-November. Further details will be made available shortly on the FFA website, www.ffa.de.