FkN Newsletter
October 2009
FkN News
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The memories from Nordisk Panorama Event in Iceland are still very vivid and Nordisk Panorama 2010 in Bergen might seem far away, but preparations for the next edition are already in full swing.
We have changed the 2010 submission deadline for Nordisk Panorama and Filmkontakt Nord. Instead of one deadline for all films on 15 May there will be two deadlines: The first deadline is 15 February for films made in 2009 and the second deadline remains on 15 May, but will only be for films completed after 1 January 2010!
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Earlier this month Jing Haase attended Cinekid in Amsterdam, promoting the children's films in FkN's Film Catalogue and FkN will also be promoting Nordic films and filmmakers heavily at several of the fall's major documentary events.
International Network & Marketing Manager Katrine Kiilgaard has just returned from Leipzig, where FKN was the partner of the 5th International DOK Leipzig Co-production Meeting. During two days, the Nordic and German production landscapes were outlined, and producers were introduced to each other besides meeting financiers from all of Europe and beyond.
Next up is Sheffield Doc/Fest, where a delegation of 64 Nordic film professionals, co-ordinated by FkN and the Swedish Film Institute, will attend. 12 Nordic projects have been selected for this year’s MeetMarket and 8 Nordic films can be enjoyed in the official selection.
At CPH:DOX taking off by the ending of Sheffield Doc/Fest, Katrine Kiilgaard has curated a series of Nordic films for the digital DOX:MARKET. Attending professionals will get a taste of some of the latest and greatest Nordic docs that were in competition at this year's Nordisk Panorama and that are as well available at Nordisk Panorama Market Online for registered professionals to watch around the clock at their own convenience. Here they will find the remainder of this year's Nordisk Panorama competition programmes in addition to numerous other Nordic shorts and docs from the past year. More than 600 films are now available at the platform – just a click away.
Finally, at IDFA in Amsterdam later this month, Nordisk Panorama Market Online will once more be at the center of FkN's promotional activities, when the platform will be presented to all the buyers attending Docs for Sale. Besides that, no less than 25 films from the Nordic countries can be enjoyed in the different sections of the festival.
Focus: New Nordic and International Initiatives
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A New Arena for Documentaries in Norway
RÅFILM is the title of a new documentary initiative by Cinemateket at
the Norwegian Film Institute. Twice every month Cinemateket hosts
documentary evenings with screenings, premieres, debates, discussions
and theme nights. The ambition is to create a living forum for
documentary films where professionals and audience can meet, discuss
and be inspired.
The series kicked off mid september with a
premiere of two Norwegian films and the presentation of the films in
the New Ways in Documentary Films sceme. The next session, in the
beginning of October, featured Swedish filmmaker Eric Gandini's
Videocracy, followed the next day by a masterclass with Eric Gandini.
Planned for this year is also evenings in the company of Norwegian
filmmakers Emil Trier, Even Benestad and Margreth Olin.
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New Documentary Allience in North America
Four North American documentary film festivals and two industry
organisations have signed an agreement with the Internet portal
SnagFilms for the digital distribution of documentaries on the Internet.
SnagFilms provides its partners with their own channels for releasing their documentaries and making them available to users. On the advertising-financed platform the films can be viewed in full length free of charge as streaming videos. A special feature of the portal is that the users can 'snag' the films to disseminate them further on other websites.
The alliance includes the festivals Hot Docs
(Toronto), Outfest (Los Angeles), Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
(Durham, NC), and the DC Environmental Festival (Washington), as well
as the International Documentary Association (IDA) and the film
competition organisation CINE.
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Earlier this month Norway's then Minister of Culture Trond Giske announced that the total allocation for film in 2010 will reach NOK 627,5 million, up NOK 50 million from 2009. This represents the biggest increase ever of state support to film.
More than half the total budget for film will be earmarked towards audiovisual production. The increased resources will also go towards the upgrading of the screening room at Oslo's Film House and to regional film centres. Another NOK 3 million will be invested into computer games.
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Journalist and filmmaker Ásgrímur Sverrisson has launched the new English language film website www.icelandcinemanow.com, entirely dedicated to Icelandic films and film industry. The site provides news, analyses, articles, blogs, and trailers about Icelandic films. You will also find links to Icelandic production companies. A group of Icelandic and foreign writers, filmmakers, critics, and scolars make out the regular writers of content to the website.
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Three new Nordic awards will be given out during the 33rd Göteborg International Film Festival (8-29 February 2010). The Nordic Film Music Prize worth SEK 100.000 will be awarded in collaboration with the professional organisation SKAP (Svenska Kompositören Av Populärmusik). The Dragon Award for Best Swedish Documentary will be awarded for the first time to follow up on last year's special focus on documentary filmmaking and the Best Nordic Film-Audience Award will give the audience a chance to vote for the best film in the Nordic Film competition.
