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This is the annual report for the twenty-third year of operations at Filmkontakt Nord, the foundation for Nordic shorts and documentaries. Filmkontakt Nord (FkN) is a registered Danish business trust. Its purpose is to promote Nordic shorts and documentaries and to support related activities. It has four primary objectives: information, marketing, disseminating knowledge, and network development.
2013 was the year in which Nordisk Panorama Event ended its nomadic existence to settle in Malmö, Sweden. Thereby the implementation of the strategy adopted by the FkN Board in 2012 to build an even stronger platform for the industry and a clearer window for Nordic shorts and documentaries took a proper start. With Nordisk Panorama as its primary platform, FkN has helped to develop a strong Nordic brand for shorts and documentaries and to pave the way for the success these genres are currently enjoying. The Nordic trademark, coupled to stimulation of the market for shorts and documentaries, remains central to the strategy, but the fact that filmmakers fundamentally own their own platform is also seen as paramount and deserving of further reinforcement.
The 2013 restructuring included the development of closer operational ties between FkN and the local Nordisk Panorama organisation in order to rationalise our efforts and to enhance communication regarding our activities. It inspired the development of a shared digital structure and a new graphic profile, as future activities will all launch under a single brand - Nordisk Panorama - whether they involve the annual Nordisk Panorama Event or industry activities organised by FkN throughout the year.
Nordisk Panorama with a regular home in Malmö got off to a very good start. The vibrant, easily accessible city of Malmö with its dedicated audiences, multi-cultural influences, high-tech innovations and buzzing media industry turned out to provide the perfect mooring for the event. Despite some hurdles during the development phase, FkN and local partners carried off an extremely successful festival with remarkable increases in the number of accredited professionals compared to the previous year (25%), visiting decision-makers (20% at the Forum, almost 50% at the market) and tickets sold (almost 150%). With these figures, Nordisk Panorama 2013 saw the largest number of visitors in the history of the festival. The winner of the Best Nordic Documentary Award walked away with € 11,000 donated by the Nordic public service broadcasters. Media coverage referred to "the Nordic Championship in Shorts & Docs" and Nordisk Panorama's presence in the social media grew significantly. Added benefits included the successful launch of new market initiatives and industry events, meeting with very favourable responses. We are very much looking forward to carrying on with this work.
Organisation
With the interests of Nordic filmmakers continually in mind, our current activities and new initiatives fall into the following areas: reinforcing the Nordic network, increasing international impact for Nordic shorts and documentaries, optimising the Nordisk Panorama Event and its digital platforms, and the continual evolution of the services FkN provides to the industry.
To ensure clarity in its operational structure and its management of funds, FkN defines its activities under three headings: basic activities, priority projects, and other projects. The three are independent of one another in terms of content, resources required, budgeting and funding.
"Basic activities" covers information activities, the FkN digital platform, Nordic and international networking, and marketing. "Priority projects" covers the Nordisk Panorama Film Festival, Nordisk Panorama Market & Outlook, and the Nordisk Forum for Co-financing of Documentaries, while "Other projects" covers varying self-funded projects.
FkN is managed by a board of trustees, with one representative from each Nordic country. The ordinary trustees and alternating trustees are all professionals within short and documentary filmmaking and are appointed by the FkN national reference groups. Members of the latter are appointed by the national professional organisations. Trustees sit for four years, with the possibility of a one-year extension. In 2013 the FkN trustees were as follows:
Country Ordinary Trustee Alternating trustee
Denmark Helle Faber Cæcilia Holbek Trier
Finland Sami Jahnukainen Ulla Simonen
Iceland Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdottir Ari Alexander Ergis Magnusson
Norway Dag Hoel Lars Løge
Sweden David Herdies Elsa Coinby
The trustees held three ordinary meetings in the course of the year, in February, May and September. The February meeting was held over two days, with one day devoted to the development of cooperation with FkN's permanent partners in Malmö and the ongoing monitoring of that year's Nordisk Panorama.
In 2013 FkN was staffed by its MD Katrine Kiilgaard, Nordisk Panorama Market Manager Jing Haase, Nordisk Forum Manager Christina Jul Gregersen and Financial Controller Knud Finnerup, who took over from Alma Ducheyne on 1 March. Amila Cirkinagic and Maria Strynø were temporarily employed on the Nordisk Panorama Market and Nordisk Forum projects in the course of the year.
Finances
Operating costs came to DKK 4,343,000, funded by contributions, provisions and charges. As described above, funding is all explicitly earmarked for basic activities, priority projects, and other projects respectively.
In 2012 support from the Nordic Council of Ministers was set at DKK 1,400,000 for a three-year period. This support is earmarked for basic activities, and underpins the running of FkN. In 2013 the Council granted a further DKK 100,000 as a special contribution to the implementation of the new strategy.
National funding from the Nordic film institutes and ministries came to DKK 1,357,000, and was specifically earmarked for the priority Nordisk Panorama Event project, comprising the Nordisk Panorama Festival, Nordisk Panorama Market & Outlook, and the Nordisk Forum for Co-financing of Documentaries.
The Nordisk Film & TV Fond also contributed to Nordisk Panorama Event, specifically supporting Nordisk Forum and new market activities in the amount of DKK 160,500.
The EU MEDIA Programme provided support for Nordisk Panorama Event for the eleventh year running, a total of DKK 544,500 for the year. In addition to its financial importance, this support is of considerable value, accentuating Nordisk Panorama Event as a significant European event. The support we received in 2013 comprised the second year of a three-year framework agreement.
The Nordic producers contributed DKK 585,500 to revenues through film registration and Nordisk Panorama Event participation fees. Extraordinary income amounted to DKK 11,500.
Finally, the five Nordic public service television broadcasters and a range of regional Nordic film funds provided a total of DKK 166,000.
FkN digital platforms
Our extensive digital services are available at www.filmkontakt.com. We provide an open access platform for professional circles in order to reinforce Nordic cooperation and international promotion. Our website is the only mutual information platform for the Nordic short and documentary industry. By acting as the gateway to the Nordic countries for Nordic and international stakeholders seeking information and networking among those active in Nordic film, the platform helps to underpin FkN's role as the first stop for Nordic shorts and documentaries. In 2013 our website had almost 20,000 unique visitors. About half of the hits came from repeat visitors, who viewed an average of four pages per visit. Time per visit was slightly up in 2013 compared to previous years, averaging 3:50 minutes.
Film Catalogue / NPM Online
The FkN online film catalogue contains structured, continually updated information on Nordic shorts and documentaries produced since about 1990. The films are represented by synopses, stills, contact details and trailers available to all users. By the end of 2013 the catalogue contained details of more than 5350 titles, of which 246 joined the catalogue during the year.
Since 2008 new titles have all been launched on the Nordisk Panorama Market online (NPM Online) for streaming in their full length round the clock. This platform is accessible to more than 1350 international buyers, festivals and distributors, and now contains more than 1300 titles. New and old titles alike are continually promoted to relevant users through the FkN news service, and a total of 2918 screenings were carried out online in 2013.
NPM Online has a range of interactive tools to help users track completed work and to contact rights owners directly. FkN has noted growing interest in the platform as working methods evolve and more and more people choose to work online. In 2013 this rapid development seemed to ease up slightly. Overall, the number of active users has increased more than tenfold compared to the analogue era when decision makers used the video library on FkN's premises in Copenhagen. However, that is where you may still access all the older titles in the catalogue.
Professional Directory
The FkN contact database contains up-to-date details on some 10,000 active professionals, with an extensive guide to the Nordic short and documentary arena thus available online. Registration is integrated with the other FkN databases and provides a complete overview of the Nordic short and documentary film professionals and their titles available via the online catalogue.
NF Online
Nordisk Forum Online (NF Online) provides a range of services prior to and after the event. It enables you to study the projects selected as an already participating professional, book meetings, and follow up. Fully integrated with the FkN online film catalogue and professional register, NF Online is an all-round networking and information tool for those attending Nordisk Forum and may be accessed as much as a year after the event has taken place.
News Service
The news section of the FkN website is divided into permanent categories, each providing a quick overview of relevant information in the short and documentary field. Nordisk Panorama News details current FkN activities, while New Nordic & International Initiatives picks up on important initiatives and events on the short and documentary scene. Dates & Deadlines supplies information on relevant international events and opportunities for obtaining finance, while Names in the News, and Awards, keep users updated about the people concerned and the triumphs and accolades films are currently enjoying around the world. The information is summarised and published in the monthly FkN newsletter, which reaches 8500 professionals in the Nordic countries, the rest of Europe, and around the world.
Nordic Network
As part of maintaining close links with the national industries, FkN regularly attends the most important Nordic short and documentary festivals: DocPoint, Tampere Film Festival, Göteborg International Film Festival, Tempo Dokumentärfestival, BUFF, Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Reykjavík Shorts & Docs, the short film festival in Grimstad, Odense Internationale Film Festival and CPH:DOX. Our presence gives us the opportunity not only to talk about FkN activities, services and Nordisk Panorama, but also to create a space for dialogue and to obtain input from national circles to use in our ongoing activities.
At the Nordic festivals FkN also makes its Nomadic Office: On-the-Spot Project Consultancy available. This is where FkN can provide advice on Nordic and international funding and distribution of new short and documentary projects. Unfortunately, in 2013 this activity had to make way for our effort to restructure the festival.
As part of the new strategy, the Finnish reference group launched Nordisk Panorama Town Hall (NP Town Hall), a new initiative held at the Tampere Film Festival in March and at the Helsinki Short Film Festival in November. NP Town Hall aims to spotlight current issues in the Nordic short and documentary landscape and to invite the relevant people to debate them. The first NP Town Hall discussed music rights in shorts and documentaries, and the second event of the year invited filmmakers to talk about "Shorts and Docs - does anybody watch them?"
International Market platform
Internationalisation has always been a cornerstone of FkN activities. It gives Nordisk Panorama an impact that reaches far beyond Nordisk Panorama itself, as the event forms the basis for many other activities throughout the year. Conversely, FkN's general activities bring a substantial international network and invaluable market knowledge to Nordisk Panorama.
The selection of films brought together through the Nordisk Panorama Festival and Market thus gain exposure at a range of international festivals and markets, and the professional network evolves and grows stronger. In 2013 FkN was represented at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, Hot Docs, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Berlinale, Hamburg International Short Film Festival, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and at Power to the Pixel.
Similarly, as facilitator and matchmaker FkN takes delegations of Nordic filmmakers beyond our borders and helps to pave their way into the international film market. In 2013 we coordinated the Nordic delegations at Hot Docs in Canada and at the Sheffield Doc/Fest in the UK, two of the most important documentary film events in the North American and European markets respectively. Some fifty Nordic film professionals travelled with FkN, enjoying this extra service and the dedicated network activities put on for them. Moreover, FkN sent a number of Nordic filmmakers to Sunny Side of the Doc in France on advantageous terms in a unique joint effort with EDN.
Regrettably, pressure of time in connection with the implementation of new market activities at Nordisk Panorama meant that we had to set aside our cooperation with Cinekid in Amsterdam as a special offensive to promote Nordic children and youth films in 2013. However, we look forward to resuming this cooperation in 2014.
Consultations, conferences and special partnerships
Another vital aspect of our work consists of disseminating knowledge about the Nordic and international markets. FkN staff make sure they are constantly up-to-date on these markets, partly by attending international events, and partly by maintaining contacts with those in the know. FkN belongs to the European Documentary Network and the International Short Film Conference. Our membership is yet another way of forging vital links beyond Nordic borders.
Against this background FkN provides ongoing consultations via phone calls, e-mails, markets and festivals for the Nordic short and documentary industry in its search for knowledge of the international market and vice versa.
In the course of the year the expertise of the FkN staff was called on in connection with jury panels, project and film committees, panel participation, etc., at the Göteborg International Film Festival, Uppsala International Short Film Festival and IDFA/Forum (Amsterdam).
Nordisk Panorama is part of the Nordic Short Film Festival Network. The other festivals in the network are the Tampere Film Festival, Uppsala International Short Film Festival, Odense Film Festival, Aarhus Film Festival, Minimalen, Kortfilmfestivalen i Grimstad and Skábmagovat. The network was launched to reinforce the position of the Nordic festivals and cooperation on technology in connection with screening formats, registration, and the like. As part of this partnership 2013 saw the second edition of Mental Nord, a package of seven Nordic short films the network offers to festivals and other screening channels. Profits go to the producers of the films.
In 2013 FkN helped to organise the Danish edition of Short Film Day, an initiative that started in France but has rapidly spread to the rest of Europe with view to increasing the visibility of short films. This is achieved by showing short films in different ways and different forums on the shortest day of the year. In Denmark four film programmes were shown in three cities; one of the programmes was a selection of Nordisk Panorama highlights.
FkN has taken steps to set up a Nordic partnership for Short Film Day, and we plan to launch in 2014.
Nordisk Panorama
The 24th Nordisk Panorama took place in Malmö, Sweden, where industry activities were all located at the Hotel Scandic Triangeln, Inkonst and the Moriska Paviljong. The venues were chosen with a view to the new cinema expected open in the area in 2015. It will be managed by Folkets Bio and concentrate on films for children and quality films, and in the future it will serve as the principle Nordisk Panorama screening cinema. For this reason we made the decision to locate Nordisk Panorama activities in this part of town and thus familiarise people from the industry with the area.
FkN and our local partners put on an event that attracted the Nordic short and documentary industry alongside international curators, buyers and funders interested in Nordic shorts and documentaries. 837 accredited professionals from 28 different countries attended, of whom no fewer than 115 were from non-Nordic countries.
This is not only a major increase over the previous year, but an absolute record in the history of Nordisk Panorama. It gives us faith in the potential of the new strategy and accentuates Nordisk Panorama Event as the prime meeting place for the Nordic short and documentary industry.
The Nordic regional film funds and the Nordic Doc Lounge association again chose to have their own meetings at Nordisk Panorama, as did the Nordic short film festival network of which Nordisk Panorama is part, and FkN again convened the Nordic short film consultants from the film institutes and commissioning editors from the Nordic public service broadcasters to discuss the conditions for short films in the Nordic countries and ways of working together across national borders.
Also on a strategic note, Nordisk Panorama cooperated with SWIM, the Scandinavian World of Innovative Media initiative, to gather decision-makers from film institutes and regional film funds for a Think Tank on how to understand and work with transmedia projects.
Nordisk Panorama Festival
As always, the festival revolved around the competing Nordic shorts and documentaries, but this time in a new guise. 2013 was the year in which the competition programme was given a sharper focus and became a truly Nordic championship.
In each of the three competition programmes: Nordic Documentary Award, Nordic Short Film Award and New Nordic Voices Award, 15 films competed for the accolade of best Nordic short film, best Nordic documentary, and best new Nordic talent. The films were selected by national juries from each of the five Nordic countries. Each jury nominated three entries for each of the three categories.
Of the 501 films entered, 45 were thus selected for the competition programmes. The two main competitions were judged by separate international juries, while the jury for New Nordic Voices was made up of Nordic professionals.
2013 was also the year in which the documentary film award became even grander. With magnificent support from the five Nordic public service television broadcasters, the lucky winner is now able to walk away with some € 11,000 in prize money. This arrangement will also apply for 2014 and 2015, and thereby provides important moral support for the continued evolution of Nordisk Panorama.
Since 2011 Nordisk Panorama has been the Academy Award nominating festival in the short film category, making 2013 the third occasion on which the winner of the short film competition could qualify for the race for an Oscar nomination. The 2013 winner was On Suffocation by Jenifer Malmqvist, Sweden, who also enjoyed a cash prize of € 7,000 put up by Malmö Stad (the City of Malmö).
With its constant focus on developing new Nordic talents, New Nordic Voices came about thanks to invaluable support from a committee made up of the Nordic regional film funds. Their support allows us to invite talented young filmmakers to Nordisk Panorama to integrate into the established network, and to reward the competition winner with a cash prize of € 3,500.
The festival showed a total of 112 films in 70 screening programmes, among them dedicated programmes for children and youth, the Nordic short film programme Mental Nord, a themed series entitled Eco Matters, and a partnership with Folkets Bio, Malmö, which treated attendees to Nordic films and conversations in the Panora Panorama series.
Nordisk Panorama 2013 put on a number of master classes. The award-winning Norwegian director Margreth Olin gave a master class on how to deal with ethical dilemmas, and a retrospective of Olin's films was also screened. A special double master class looked at experimental cinema. Composer and artist Lisa Nordström, Sweden, talked about the connection between visuals and music in her shows. That evening the audience had the opportunity to check out the connection first-hand at a concert she gave at the festival Club. Then the Finnish duo Hannes Vartiainen & Pekka Veikkolainen took us on a journey into their experimental documentary universe, and the festival put on a retrospective of their films.
Throughout the festival at the Festival Club, the Docu Nights series presented an international documentary film every evening on a theme that carried over into that night's live music, DJ'ing and VJ'ing.
This year the popular conversation between two directors, My Dinner With ..., featured Fredrik Gertten from Sweden and Joe Berlinger from the US. Both filmmakers have been subjected to pressure by big American corporations while making their films. In connection with their seminar the festival presented retrospectives of both filmmakers.
Nordisk Panorama continued its special focus on transmedia and for the second year running put on a Transmedia Meet-up and a hackathon. The Meet-up opened with a keynote speech by Ingrid Kopp, Director of Digital Initiatives at the Tribeca Film Institute, and was followed by an un-conference at which likeminded creatives showcased their own projects and creative issues, shared experiences and expounded on best-cases. The Meet-up also served as the start of a two-day Hackathon, at which software developers, games developers and filmmakers hacked new, innovative narrative forms.
The festival also hosted BlabDroids. The three robots had previously visited festivals such as Tribeca, New York, and IDFA, Amsterdam, and now guested Nordisk Panorama to interact with visitors and capture the Nordic angle for their documentary, which will be the first one completely created by robots.
With intensified focus on the new generation and new talent, we repeated last year's Student & Teacher Meet-up, welcoming 64 film students and their teachers. In cooperation with Malmö Högskola as host, a special programme was mounted for them featuring screenings, networking activities and seminars.
The local budget of Nordisk Panorama Festival was just under DKK 3 million in 2013, of which FkN contributed DKK 275,000. Other major funders included Malmö Stad, Region Skåne, Film i Skåne and the Swedish Film Institute, as well as a number of foundations, professional associations and sponsors.
Nordisk Panorama Market
Nordisk Panorama Market 2013 was organised by FkN and presented 246 new Nordic short and documentary titles to 89 market guests from 23 different countries. The ten computers were put to efficient use, resulting in more than 900 screenings.
The guest list included ARTE (France), ZDF (Germany), BBC (UK), VPRO (Netherlands), PBS/POV (USA), the Nordic public service television broadcasters, and the international festivals Clermont-Ferrand Int. Short Film Festival (France) Sheffield Doc/Fest (UK), Sundance Film Festival (USA), Tribeca Film Festival (USA), Visions du Réel (Switzerland), Krakow Film Festival (Poland), One World - Human Rights Film Festival (Czech Republic), Cinema Du Reél (France), Dokufest (Kosovo), International Short Film Festival Oberhausen (Germany), Go Short (Netherlands), Guanajuato International Film Festival (Mexico), Edinburgh Film Festival (UK), New Zealand Film Festival (New Zealand), Documenta Madrid (Spain) and Curtas Vila do Conde (Portugal) as well as several Nordic festivals. In addition, international sales agents Autlook Film Sales (Austria), Some Like it Short (Spain), KurzFilmAgentur Hamburg (Germany), Wide House (France), Interfilm Berlin (Germany), Ouat Media (Canada), Magnetfilm (Germany), Shorts International (UK), Deckert Distribution (Germany) and Taskovski Films (UK) were also present at Nordisk Panorama Market.
As always the international distributors, television buyers and festivals enjoyed the opportunity to obtain expert guidance through individual meetings with the Nordic film institute representatives and FkN staff in association with the market.
Closed Market Screenings
A new feature in 2013 was the closed market screenings. These screenings are put on in order to provide a showcase for brand new films that have not yet had their international premieres and are looking for just the right venue. The screenings are closed, with access restricted to buyers, distributors and festival programmers so as not to compromise their premiere status in a competitive landscape in which many festivals insist on premiere films. In this first year of closed screenings we showed 29 shorts and documentaries in 16 slots distributed over the four days of the festival. The screenings attracted an exclusive selection of just the right market partners.
Work-in-Progress
Another new feature at the market was the Work-in-Progress presentations: in a format tailored to the needs of each project, six documentaries near to completion were presented to an audience of international and Nordic buyers, distributors and festivals, followed by one-to-one meetings. The presentations followed up on previous pitches at Nordisk Forum or fora around the world at the critical juncture for the projects when the final top finance, a deal with a sales agent, or just the right festival launch pad is what is required to make them take wing. 34 decision makers took part in the first edition of Work-in-Progress, which was a great success, resulting in tangible progress for all the projects presented.
We are looking forward to evolving both formats over the next years.
NPM one-to-one
As an increasing proportion of screening activity is taking place online all year round, Nordisk Panorama Market is becoming more and more dedicated to network activities, face-to-face meetings between market guests and film professionals, and the exchange and dissemination of professional knowledge.
NPM one-to-one gives Nordic filmmakers the opportunity to meet international market guests at individual meetings of 10-15 minutes organised in advance by FkN. The initiative has been a huge success, resulting in more than 80 meetings a year. In 2013 the market venue also housed the one-to-one meetings in connection with Work-in-Progress, thus providing a centre for networking activities to an even greater degree than before.
NP Outlook
FkN also organised another Nordisk Panorama Outlook in 2013. In close association with the market, the Outlook umbrella embraces a range of presentations and seminars spotlighting the latest trends in international finance, sale and distribution of shorts and documentaries. To increase the professional knowhow of the Nordic film industry and to enhance its ability to navigate in the international market, FkN presented a series of important key international individuals.
Speakers in 2013 included Sean Farnel / Ripping Reality (USA), Giovanna Stopponi/Native Voice Film (UK), Anders Bredmose / Danish Producers' Association (Denmark), Casper Hald/YouSee (Denmark), Stephen Green/Distrify (UK), Alexandra Heneka/ KurzFilmAgentur Hamburg (Germany), Fred Joubaud/Ouat Media (Canada), Christian Gesell/Interfilm Berlin (Germany), Cinzia Spironello/Some Like it Short (Spain), Georg Gruber/Magnetfilm (Germany), Christopher Tidman/Shorts International (UK), Robert Freiert/Manymade (Denmark), Ingvil Giske/Medieoperatørene (Norway), Allan van O.T. Andersen and Rasa Miskinyte/Era Film (Latvia).
NPM Online
The day after the festival the 246 films were launched on NPM Online, the FkN digital platform built to promote the Nordic shorts and documentaries all year round. The 246 titles were shown on the platform a further 864 times, and in all the market films were thus screened 1868 times in the course of the year. This is a slight increase compared to 2012. A total of 2918 screenings of new and older titles were undertaken on NPM Online in 2013.
Nordisk Forum
The Nordisk Forum for Co-financing of Documentaries undergoes continual development in consultation with primary stakeholders, and is now a three-day event with dedicated networking activities, pitching sessions, pre-booked meetings and social events. Together they comprise a valuable professional industry and business platform.
Innovations over the last few years such as the Producers Meet Producers network event, a specially-invited foreign delegation, project categories Nordic Wildcards and Observer +, along with the extension to NF Online, have all settled in as fully-integrated, smoothly functioning components of Nordisk Forum.
In 2013 Nordisk Forum celebrated its 20th anniversary, again receiving a strong, stable field of project applications. In all, 87 projects made it through to the next round. 79 applied to pitch and 69 to be observer+, thereby gaining access to meetings with financers. Some applied for both categories, others for just the one.
In 2012 we changed the make-up of the selection jury, which had been predominantly international for a number of years. The change was highly successful. To ensure that Nordisk Forum remains uniquely Nordic, focussing on the high creative standards achievable when we work together, we want to continually involve the Nordic institutions who work with Nordic projects every day. This makes them more clearly co-responsible for Nordisk Forum as a joint Nordic platform. The jury represented a Nordic broadcaster, a Nordic film consultant, an experienced Nordic producer, and an international sales agent to provide a broader view. A great variety of projects was selected, and they received useful feedback. 2013 has convinced us that this is the right model to pursue.
Of the 79 projects applying to pitch, 19 were chosen, and if we include the five Nordic Wildcards, the national distribution was five Swedish, four Norwegian, eight Danish, three Finnish, two Icelandic, one Estonian, and one from the Netherlands. In the observer+ category 21 project were selected, with six Swedish, four Danish, three Norwegian, three Finnish, two Icelandic, one Lithuanian, and two from the Netherlands.
260 professionals from 19 countries took part. Besides the 50 Nordic and international financers, 15 international sales agents and distributors attended. In addition, 56 filmmakers took part in the pitching teams, 33 attended as observer +, 56 were observers, and there were 40 other film professionals, eight film school students, and two moderators in attendance.
For the fourth year running Nordisk Forum started with the Producers Meet Producers networking event. Following the optimisation of the format last year, Producers Meet Producers resulted in efficient networking and enhanced professional content, much appreciated by the 33 participating producers. There were six Danish producers, one Estonian, four Finnish, two Icelandic, one Lithuanian, four Norwegian, six Swedish, and nine producers from the Dutch delegation, which was organised in cooperation with the Netherlands Film Fund.
FkN booked 435 meetings between financers, distributors, experts and filmmakers, the highest number of meetings in Nordisk Forum history.
It is too soon to assess the effect of Nordisk Forum 2013, but based on previous years, 60-70% of the 24 projects pitched secure further funding as a result of Nordisk Forum. Despite the economic crisis, evaluation of the financial results for the projects pitched in 2012 has never been better, and for the second year running they exceeded € 2 million, this time netting € 2,562,854. It is a record that very much underlines how much this platform means to Nordic documentary film.
Filmkontakt Nord 2014
With the aim of strengthening the professional profile of FkN in relation to the interests involved in the Nordic short and documentary industry and promoting the strong international position the organisation has developed, efforts in 2014 will revolve around further consolidating and implementing the strategy we have adopted.
Besides continuing to reinforce Nordisk Panorama as the physical meeting place and showcase for the industry and audiences alike, the paramount focus for 2014 will be a major development of the FkN online platform, to evolve it into what will become the new Nordisk Panorama Online in accordance with our plans to assemble all FkN activities under one and the same brand. The FkN and Nordisk Panorama websites, which have been separate so far, will be merged to provide an attractive gateway to the Nordic short and documentary industry and its films for professionals and ordinary end-users alike.
Assuming we can raise the extra funds required, in the long term our aim is to strengthen and develop the Nordisk Panorama online services, thereby extending the reach of Nordisk Panorama as a whole. With the solid foundations provided by the existing Business-to-Business services on www.filmkontakt.com and a new link to audiences, we envisage new opportunities. Obvious possibilities include reaching out to end-users directly via an online festival, making Nordic shorts and documentaries accessible to a wider Nordic audience, liberating them from the fixed location of the physical festival. It will also become possible to turn the Nordisk Panorama website into a sales outlet and grow audiences all over the world by offering screenings on a pay-per-view basis. Via a partnership with existing digital services in the international market this would be possible in a way that would ensure that the filmmakers retained all their rights and had full control. New links to audiences would also enable a crowd-funding service to help Nordic filmmakers to grow fan bases and raise funds for new projects.
Such a project can only be carried out in several stages, and the first step will be the merger of the existing FkN and Nordisk Panorama websites and preparing a graphic profile to support the new single brand.
Nordisk Panorama Event will enjoy its 25th anniversary in 2014, and this will be celebrated in style. The festival will take place at the end of September as usual and will provide film screenings, seminars, master classes and workshops in addition to the new sharpened competition programme. We will also begin the work of creating an annual Nordic Presidency. From 2015 onwards, the presidency will spotlight the distinctive characters of each of the Nordic countries in turn. Pursuant to last year's industry activities there will again be intensified focus on up-and-coming generations of short and documentary filmmakers, along with the digital media and the opportunities they provide for shorts and documentaries in particular.
Nordisk Forum will welcome a delegation from the Balkans to Producers Meet Producers, and at Nordisk Panorama Market we look forward to further entrenching and developing the new market activities. As the year progresses, Nordisk Panorama Market Online will contain 1750 of the latest, most interesting titles from among those produced in the Nordic countries. The platform thereby provides an invaluable window for Nordic titles and distributors, festivals, buyers and sales agents from all over the world, and our goal for 2014 will again be to penetrate new markets for Nordic shorts and documentaries through our continued marketing campaigns. Moreover, we are looking forward to developing ideas for reaching out to end audiences directly via this platform.
Revolving around Nordisk Panorama and the Nordic portal, FkN will thus continue its activities to forge a lively, powerful joint platform for Nordic shorts and documentaries.
For earlier years' Activity Reports, please see below.
Activity Report 2012
Activity Report 2011
Activity Report 2010
Activity Report 2009
Activity Report 2008
Activity Report 2007
Activity Report 2006
Activity Report 2005
Activity Report 2004
Activity Report 2003
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