FkN Newsletter

March 2013

22.03.2013
Nordic Delegation at Hot Docs
Don't miss the Nordics at Hot Docs, North America's premier documentary festival, market and conference, taking place in Toronto, Canada, 25 April-5 May 2013.

Filmkontakt Nord has coordinated a delegation of documentary professionals from the five Nordic countries who will be attending different parts of the event. So there should be a good chance of meeting us at either the screenings, the International Co-Production Day, the Hot Docs Forum and around. Check out the Nordic films and projects in the Official Selection here.

Nordisk Forum Manager Christina Jul Gregersen will be present at the festival 28 April-2 May. To set up a meeting with Christina, send her an email or contact her at +45 6131 8539.

Buyers, festival programmers, sales agents and distributors can already now check out some of the films at Nordisk Panorama Market Online, Filmkontakt Nord's professional streaming service for Nordic short and docs. Read more here.

22.03.2013
Join the Nordic Delegation to Sheffield Doc/Fest & Get a Discount
Filmkontakt Nord is once again arranging the Nordic delegation to Sheffield Doc/Fest. Join the Nordic delegation to get access at a discount and take advantage of the special benefits for delegation members.

Delegation registration deadline: 22 April. If you want to join us, read more here.

22.03.2013
Successful First Edition of Nordisk Panorama Town Hall
Guests at Tampere Film Festival, Finland, were the first to experience Filmkontakt Nord's new initiative, the NP Town Hall, gathering key industry stakeholders for a Nordic forum addressing current obstacles in the short and documentary film industry.

The first NP Town Hall was hosted by FkN's Finnish reference group on Friday 8 March and up for discussion were music rights in documentaries and short films. With representatives from key music rights organisations in Finland on the panel (NCB, Gramex, Finnish Musicians Union and Elvis - The Finnish Society of Composers and Lyricists), Finnish documentary and short film professionals were invited to join the discussion.

During the 2,5 hour discussion, filmmakers in the audience shared dozens of practical experiences with music rights in films and had many good suggestions on how to develop things from a filmmaking perspective. Respectively, the representatives of the music rights organisations explained their mandates and talked about how the music rights system is constructed and how it is developing. They were very interested in hearing the filmmakers' point of view, which led to an eye-opening meeting, giving both filmmakers and music rights holders a better understanding of the situation and allowing them to focus on developing the field further.

The discussion was moderated by Hannaleena Hauru, Finnish filmmaker and member of the Finnish reference group. The panelists and guests alike shared a lively discussion in a relaxed and forward thinking atmosphere before heading on to the infamous Nordic Vodka Hour hosted by Filmkontakt Nord.

Vice Chairman of the FkN board Sami Jahnukainen reports that the discussion continues. The Central Union of Finnish Film Producers, Kaiku Entertainment, Fullsteam and Mosfish Helsinki will jointly host a seminar about music rights in feature films on 24 March in Helsinki.

22.03.2013
Nordic Short Film Commissioners Gathered in Copenhagen
As a part of our continous efforts to further collaboration between the shorts and docs communities of the Nordic countries, Filmkontakt Nord hosted a short film meeting in Copenhagen last week. Short film commissioners from the national film institutes and public broadcasters were invited to discuss the current state of short films in the Nordic countries.

Charlotte Hellström and Helena Ingelsten from SVT gave a very inspiring talk about the history and the present of the short format's role in the SVT programme. After that, Joona Louhivuori from the Finnish Film Foundation gave an encouraging report on his co-production experiences.

These presentations were followed by a very constructive discussion about the current position of the short film in the Nordic countries and the possibilities for cooperations, leading to new initiatives in the field of Nordic co-production of short films. The first of these initiatives will see the light of day at Nordisk Panorama in September.

For those fluent in Finnish, check out the Finnish Film Foundation's blog to read film commissioner Joona Louhivuori's update after the meeting.

22.03.2013
Filmkontakt Nord Board 2013
On the annual March meeting in Copenhagen, the board of Filmkontakt Nord was constituted. The Board consists of five national board members, all currently active in the short film and/or documentary sector in their respective countries. The national board members are elected for a term of four years by the national Advisory Groups representing the national associations of independent filmmakers and producers.

The FkN Board 2013 consists of:

Hrafnhildur Gunnarsdóttir, Krumma Films, Iceland (Chairman)
Sami Jahnukainen, Mouka Filmi Oy, Finland (Vice Chairman)
Helle Faber, made in copenhagen, Denmark
Dag Hoel, producer, Norway
David Herdies, Momento Film, Sweden

We're happy to welcome the new board members.

22.03.2013
Happy Easter - the Office is Closed
The Filmkontakt Nord office will be closed from Friday 22 March and over Easter. We're back in the office on Tuesday 2 April.