Dear friends and colleagues, 2015 is a very special year for the Fund which turns 25. We will take the opportunity to celebrate with you a quarter of a century of unique collaboration of our Nordic film and television industries. During these years we have supported the production of 1400 films and TV series with more than NOK 1.6 billion!
2015 marks as well the start of our new five-year Agreement with our 17 partners: the Nordic Council of Ministers, the five national film institutes in the Nordic region and 11 Nordic broadcasters including SBS Discovery AS/TVNorge that joined us at the end of 2014.
2015 will also be a year of thinking future strategies and launching new initiatives. Last year we had a good experience with our focus on distribution which will remain our top priority through the continuation of our innovative Distribution Support Schemes, and soon to be announced new Slate Support.
We will also kick start our new ‘Nordic Genre Boost’ initiative aimed at supporting the development of Nordic genre films and TV series. To enrol with your project do watch out for our January 26 deadline and stay tuned for the selection announcement early March.
Nordic Talents are travelling more and more across the Nordic borders and internationally. Our flagship programme Nordic Talents (September 02-04, 2015) is there to make sure our industry renews itself and stays connect to younger generations. Two previous winners - Rúnar Rúnarsson (Sparrows) and Antti Heikki Pesonen (Headfirst) will release their films internationally this year.
Our other major annual event, the Nordic Council Film Prize will bring under the spotlight the best Nordic films and talents of 2015. Some previous nominees and winners are in production with their latest works such as Sara Johnsen (Framing Mom), Joachim Trier (Louder than Bombs), Tobias Lindholm (A War), Thomas Vinterberg (The Commune), Dagur Kari (Fúsi) and Pernilla August (The Serious Game).
Nordic Documentaries are expected to keep their spotlight position and innovative approach of getting to the audiences, including Lost In Perfection by Erik Gandini and Mother´s Wish by Joonas Berghäll.
Finally, after the tremendous start-of-the year of NRK’s TV drama Heavy Water War (read our other news), we are looking forward to discovering other new gems from Norway (Acquitted, Occupied) as well as Denmark (Norskov), Finland (Replacements), Iceland (Trapped) and Sweden (Jordskott).
Come and meet us at festivals and markets and do not forget to subscribe to our newsletter at www.nordiskfilmogvfond.com, the one and only place to find news on the Nordic film & TV industry from a Nordic and global perspective!
Petri Kemppinen, CEO Nordisk Film & TV Fond