FUNDING FILM FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

FUNDING FILM FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

SØRFOND THE NORWEGIAN SOUTH FILM FUND Film is one of today s most important cultural expressions. Film, as an art form and as cultural expression, combines in a unique way other art forms such as music, drama and moving images. Movies are, at one and the same time, entertainment, an independent artistic expression, and a medium reflecting both our past and our future. Film is also about identity, community, freedom of expression and sense of belonging. The Norwegian Film Institute and the Films from the South Foundation have recognised that it is difficult for filmmakers in developing countries to realise film projects that are locally based, despite the great demand for such productions. Filmmakers in developing countries have the need for both production capital and international professional networks. It is in that spirit that SØRFOND was created. SØRFOND IN BRIEF Production support Top financing Projects from developing countries Norwegian co-producer required Fiction or documentaries Minimum 50 min. running time 2 sørfond norwegian south film fund

FUNDING BY THE NORWEGIAN GOVERNMENT NOK 11,6 million (approximately 1,4 million) has been granted for support from 2012 to 2015 and NOK 10,4 million (approximately 1,25 million) will be granted for production support from 2016-2018 through an inter-departmental cooperation between The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and The Norwegian Ministry of Culture. The Norwegian Film Institute and the Films from the South Foundation will jointly be in charge of the administration of the fund. OVERALL OBJECTIVE The grant shall contribute to strengthen film as a cultural expression, to prome diversity and artistic integrity on the international film scene, and to strengthen freedom of expression. The grant shall also contribute to an increased cooperation between Norwegian and international film industries. The purpose of SØRFOND grants is to stimulate the production of films in developing countries where such production is limited by political or economic causes. PROJECTS FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES SØRFOND applies to grants for the production of films with a main producer based in a country on the OECD s current list of countries and territories eligible to receive assistance (DAC-list). In addition, the director must have citizenship from, or be resident in, a country of the DAC-list. The film must, for the most part, be shot in a country of the DAC-list. In exceptional cases, derogations may be made regarding the establishment of the main producer in a country of the DAC-list, if, due to political reasons, the film cannot be produced in such a country. norwegian south film fund sørfond 3

ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES EUROPE Albania, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegowina, Former Yugoslav Rep. Of Macedonia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine LATIN-AMERICA Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela 4 sørfond norwegian south film fund

ASIA Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea Dem. Rep., Kyrgyz Rep., Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, West Bank and Gaza Strip, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Yemen AFRICA Angola, Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Cameron, Cape Verde, Central African Rep., Chad, Comoros, Congo Rep., Congo Dem. Rep., Cote d Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagaskar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, St. Helena, São Tomé & Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leona, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe OCEANIA Oceania, Cook Islands, Fidji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Federated States, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis & Futuna norwegian south film fund sørfond 5

PRODUCTION REQUIREMENTS AND SELECTION PROCESS NORWEGIAN CO-PRODUCER REQUIRED The Norwegian co-producer must be a private and independent production company (Ltd) established in Norway that is not predominantly publicly owned, nor substantially related to a broadcasting organisation. The application for production support must be sent by the Norwegian co-producer. A list of Norwegian producers can be found at www.sorfond.com. The SØRFOND Pitching Forum in Oslo in October is a recommended place for meeting the co-producers. FICTION OR DOCUMENTARIES, MINIMUM 50 MIN. RUNNING TIME SØRFOND supports fiction film or documentary with a minimum running time of 50 minutes, produced for screening in cinemas, on television, or on other audiovisual media platforms. TOP FINANCING At least 50 % of the budget must already be confirmed at the time of submitting the application. MAXIMUM SUPPORT NOK 1 MILLION The grant shall not exceed NOK 1 million (approximately 130 000). Up to 10 % of the grant amount may be retained by the minority production company in order to cover its administrative costs. 6 sørfond norwegian south film fund

ASSESSMENT AND SELECTION The assessment and selection of the applications shall be based on an overall assessment of artistic, production-related, economical and technical aspects of the project. Particular emphasis is placed on the purpose of SØRFOND and the project s cultural identity, including the use of local languages and local shooting locations. Emphasis is also placed on the director s and the producers experience, as well as the representation of women in key positions. A panel consisting of three to five members appointed by the Norwegian Film Institute processes the applications and nominates candidates to the Norwegian Film Institute, which holds the decision-making power. At least one member from a DAC-listed country shall be represented in the panel. HOW TO APPLY FOR SØRFOND SØRFOND has one deadline a year. The online application form, detailed guidelines and dac-list are available at www.sorfond.com. The Norwegian minority producer is responsible for sending the application. norwegian south film fund sørfond 7

SUPPORTED PROJECTS 2015 CEMETERY LIFE LUXEMBOURG Director/script: Barbara Politsch Country: Philippines Main producer: Southern Lantern Studios Norwegian co-prod: Merkur Filmproduksjon AS / by Petter Vennerød Amount of support: NOK 400.000 / EUR 47 300 Director/script: Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy Country: Ukraine Main producer: Garmata Film Norwegian co-prod: DUOfilm AS / by Linda Bolstad og Marie Fuglestein Amount of support: NOK 500 000 / EUR 59 200 LA FAMILIA SAMUI SONG Director/script: Gustavo Rondón Country: Venezuela Main producer: La Pandilla Producciones Norwegian co-prod: Dag Hoel Filmproduksjon AS / by Dag Hoel Amount of support: NOK 400 000/ EUR 47 300 Director/script: Pen-ek Ratanaruang Country: Thailand Main producer: Bluering Company Limited Norwegian co-prod: Tenk.tv / by Frode Søbstad Amount of support: NOK 400 000/ EUR 47 300 SELLING HUMANS THE UNTAMED Director/script: Pankaj Johar Country: India Main producer: Pennywise Films PVT LTD Norwegian co-prod: Lightsource Film Productions AS / by Arne Dahr Amount of support: NOK 300 000 / EUR 35 500 Director: Amat Escalante Script: Amat Escalante and Gibran Portela Country: Mexico Main producer: Mantarraya Producciones SA de CV Norwegian co-prod: MER Film AS / by Maria Ekerhovd Amount of support: NOK 500 000 / EUR 59 200 I HATE MY LIFE Director/script: Kaouther Ben Hania Country: Tunisia Main producer: Cinetelefilms Norwegian co-prod: Integralfilm AS/ by Jørgen and Nefise Özkal Lorentzen Amount of support: NOK 500 000 / EUR 59 200 8 sørfond norwegian south film fund

SUPPORTED PROJECTS 2014 CEMETERY OF SPLENDOUR LAMB Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul Script: Apichatpong Weerasethakul Country: Thailand Main producer: Kick the Machine Norwegian co-prod: Tordenfilm / Eric Vogel, Ingunn Sundelin Amount of support: NOK 400 000 (EUR 50,000) Director: Yared Zeleke Script: Yared Zeleke Country: Etiophia Main producer: Slum Kid Films Norwegian co-prod: Film Farms / Alan R. Milligan Amount of support: NOK 450 000 (EUR 56,000) GITI PARADISE IN HELL BLACK SUNSHINE Director: Niyongabo Yves Montand Script: Niyongabo Yves Montand Country: Rwanda Main producer: Almond Tree Films Rwanda ltd Norwegian co-prod: Barentsfilm as / Ingrid Lill Høgtun Amount of support: NOK 300 000 (EUR 37,000) Director: Akosua Adoma Owusu Script: Akosua Adoma Owusu Country: Ghana/Mexico Main producer: Piano / Julio Chavazmontes, Mexico Norwegian co-prod: Barentsfilm AS / Ingrid Lill Høgtun Amount of support: NOK 425 000 (EUR 53,000) MURDER IN PACOT Director: Raoul Peck Script: Lyonel Trouillot, Pascal Bonitzer and Raoul Peck Country: Haiti Main producer: Velvet Film Norwegian co-prod: Ape&Bjørn / Ruben Thorkildsen Amount of support: NOK 425 000 (EUR 53,000) norwegian south film fund sørfond 9

SUPPORTED PROJECTS 2012-2013 LOS HEREDEROS (THE HEIRS) (FEATURE) Director: Jorge Hernandez Aldana, Mexico Norwegian co-producer: Tordenfilm / Eric Vogel The project received NOK 850.000 in grants (EUR 105.500) FLAPPING IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE (FEATURE) Director: Diep Nguyen Hoang, Vietnam Norwegian co-producer: Film Farms / Alan R.Milligan The project received NOK 850.000 in grants (EUR 105.500) ALGIERS BY NIGHT (FEATURE) Director: Yanis Koussim, Algerie Norwegian co-producer: Pomor Film As / Knut Skoglund The project received NOK 450.000 in grants (EUR 60.000) A MAID FOR EACH (DOCUMENTARY) Director: Maher Abi Samra, Lebanon Norwegian co-producer: Medieoperatørene TV / Ida Ven Bruusgaard The project received NOK 450.000 in grants (EUR 60.000) THE PAST WILL RETURN (DOCUMENTARY) Director: Dina Hamza, Egypt Norwegian co-producer: Medieoperatørene TV/ Ida Ven Bruusgaard The project received NOK 250.000 in grants (EUR 33.000) THE CHOSEN ONES (DOCUMENTARY) Director: Arman Yeritsyan, Armenia Norwegian co-producer: tenk.tv / Frode Søbstad The project received NOK 150.000 in grants (EUR 20.000) CHAR THE ISLAND WITHIN (DOCUMENTARY) Director: Sourav Sarang, India Norwegian co-producer: Cinema Oslo v/jon Jerstad The project received NOK 200,000 in grants (around EUR 26,500) CHAR THE ISLAND WITHIN (DOCUMENTARY) Director: Sourav Sarang, India Norwegian co-producer: Cinema Oslo v/jon Jerstad The project received NOK 200,000 in grants (around EUR 26,500) DESHORA (FEATURE) Director: Barbara Sarasola-Day, Argentina Norwegian co-producer: Faction Film v/dag Hoel The project received NOK 679,000 in grants (around EUR 90,000) KANDIRE LAND WITHOUT EVIL (FEATURE) Director: Juan Carlos Valdivia, Bolivia Norwegian co-producer: PJB Picture Company v/ Petter Borgli The project received NOK 750,000 in grants (around EUR 100,000) DUKHTAR (FEATURE) Director: Afia Nathaniel, Pakistan Norwegian co-producer: Indie Film v/carsten Aanonsen The project received NOK 750,000 in grants (around EUR 100,000) PALESTINE STEREO (FEATURE) Director: Rashid Masharawi, Palestine Norwegian co-producer: Ape&Bjørn v/silja Espolin Johnson and Ruben Thorkildsen The project received NOK 750,000 in grants (around EUR 100,000) WAKOLDA (FEATURE) Director: Lucía Puenzo, Argentina Norwegian co-producer: Hummelfilm v/gudny Hummelvoll The project received NOK 750,000 in grants (around EUR 100,000) WHEN HARRI GOT MARRIED (DOCUMENTARY) Director: Ritu Sarin, India Norwegian co-producer: Cinema Oslo v/jon Jerstad The project received NOK 121,000 in grants (around EUR 16,000) 10 sørfond norwegian south film fund

SØRFOND PITCHING FORUM OCTOBER 12 TH - 14 TH 2015 Photos: Johnny Vaet Nordskog THE PURPOSE OF THE SØRFOND PITCHING FORUM The Films From the South Foundation organises the SØRFOND Pitching Forum in connection with the annual Films from the South festival in October in Oslo, Norway. The purpose of the SØRFOND Pitching Forum is to give potential main producers the opportunity to present their projects to potential Norwegian minority producers, in order to enter into a co-production agreement and apply for support from SØRFOND. APPLICATIONS The main producer may apply to participate in the SØRFOND Pitching Forum through the application form at www.sorfond.com. A travel grant is provided to the forum s participants. Deadline for applications for the Pitching Forum: August 15th Application form at www.sorfond.com norwegian south film fund sørfond 11

For more information about SØRFOND: Visit www.sorfond.com For specific questions related to the Pitching Forum: sorfond@filmfrasor.no For specific questions related to the applications for production support: sorfond@nfi.no 12 sørfond norwegian south film fund