IP/09/1334 Brussels, 18 September 2009 Europe's cinema goes global: 40 international film cooperation projects benefit from EU support of €5 million Today, the European Commission announced €5 million of funding for 2009 to strengthen cultural and commercial relations between Europe's film industry and film-makers of third countries. The EU funding will enable European film makers, animators and other audiovisual professionals to learn new skills, and promote the industry, by cooperating with professionals outside Europe, and vice-versa. 40 projects will benefit from EU funding. They include joint training, reciprocal promotion, distribution and film screenings and other actions to encourage audiences in Europe and abroad to discover foreign films. The funding takes place under MEDIA International, an initiative for EU funding of international film cooperation started in 2008. Compared to 2008, this year's funding and number of selected projects have more than doubled (last year, 18 projects were funded by the EU with €2 million, IP/08/1273 ). This was made possible thanks to last December's vote by the European Parliament to increase the budget for international cooperation in the film sector. "Europe has an exciting, culturally diverse and innovative film sector which is eager to share its knowledge with audiovisual professionals from other parts of the world and at the same time to learn from them, taking into account other cultural backgrounds and experiences" said Viviane Reding, EU Media Commissioner. " The €5 million announced today for project funding demonstrates the EU's enhanced commitment to boosting Europe's audiovisual industries internationally. I am particularly grateful to the European Parliament for its decisions which have highlighted the importance of cross-border cooperation and cultural diversity for the film sector in Europe and in our partner countries. " To strengthen the global outreach of Europe's film sector, the European Commission announced today the 40 projects selected out of the 95 applications for funding under MEDIA International, an EU funding action that is running over three years (2008-2010). The European Parliament voted last December an enhanced budget of €5 million for 2009. Today's announcement is the start of intensified EU efforts to increase consumer choice by bringing more diverse films to European and international markets and create new business opportunities for audiovisual professionals from Europe and around the globe. A total of 23 training projects will be funded, partnering European and global professionals to deepen understanding of the operating conditions, legal frameworks, and financing of the audiovisual markets abroad. For example, the Babylon International project will organise workshops in cooperation with West-African countries. Ten projects that help audiovisual works to access international markets and promote their chances for distribution have also been funded. The Producers Lab Toronto will build on its strong links with the Toronto International Film Festival to create new in-roads for up-and-coming European and Canadian producers with strong projects targeted for international co-production. The EU is also supporting 4 projects on the distribution of European films in third countries and vice-versa. In particular Ventana Sur is opening up a major new film market for Latin-American productions in Buenos Aires thanks to cooperation between the Argentinean Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales and the Cannes International Film Market. Furthermore, the EU is also supporting Europa Cinemas , a network of 342 cinemas in Europe and 183 in third countries for the screening of European, Mediterranean, Asian and Latin-American films. Finally, MEDIA International will support 2 projects aiming at increasing the potential audience for foreign films. One of them, called Operation Kino, will use a travelling digital projector to bring European and International films to cinema-deprived areas. Background: The MEDIA International preparatory action was agreed by the EU institutions in 2007 to pave the way for the new MEDIA MUNDUS programme. This new EU programme for international film cooperation will run from 2011-2013 and provide €15 million of funding to capitalise on growing interest and the opportunities offered by global cooperation of the EU audiovisual industry ( IP/09/26 ). Within Europe, the existing MEDIA 2007 programme will provide €755 million to Europe's audiovisual industry from 2007-2013, helping European professionals get training and develop, distribute and promote their works around Europe ( IP/07/169 ). Over the past years several MEDIA-funded films produced in Europe have proven the investment worth winning prestigious awards including, at the Cannes Film Festival, the Palme d'Or ( Entre Les Murs, France ), the Grand Prix du Jury ( Gomorra, Italy ) ( IP/08/8 00 ) as well as Oscars for The Counterfeiters ( Die Fälscher/Austria-Germany ), La Vie en Rose ( La Môme/France ) ( IP/08/298 ) and most recently Slumdog Millionaire (UK) ( IP/09/284 ). List of projects supported so far under MEDIA International: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/media/overview/international/projects/index_en.htm On MEDIA MUNDUS: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/media/mundus/index_en.htm RESULTS OF 2 nd CALL MEDIA INTERNATIONAL PREPARATORY ACTION 2009 List of selected projects Lot 1 – Training N° Acronyme Coordinator Partners in third countries Allocated Community Support 01.2.01 DCM ASIA-PACIFIC Documentary Campus GER n.a. 50.000 01.2.02 ACE-IPA 2 ACE F n.a 35.600 01.2.03 S&P International MG LAB Italia IT n.a 25.000 01.2.04 EURODOC International EURODOC F n.a. 60.000 01.2.06 EAVE FFF EAVE LUX n.a. 16.352 01.2.08 MEGA PLUS Fundacion Cultural Media ES n.a. 30.000 01.3.01 STC 2010 Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin GER Bosnia 20.000 01.3.02 AJ B-CAMPUS ACE Ateliers du Cinéma Européen F Japan 60.439 01.3.04 TFL/DIFF/EAVE Dvpt and Co-prod workshops Museo Nazionale del Cinema-Fondazione Maria Adriana Prolo IT Dubai 120.000 01.3.05 BB Huston School of Film IRL Tunisia, Burkina Faso 100.000 01.3.08 Ties that bind-EAVE Asia FVG Film Commission IT Korea 120.000 01.3.09 CARTOON CONNECTION 2010 Association Européenne du Film d'Animation - CARTOON BE Argentina, Australia, Korea 300.000 01.3.10 CSF Confédération internationale des cinémas d'art et d'essai F Chile, Venezuela 110.000 01.3.13 ESoDoc INDIA Zelig Soc. Coop IT India 110.000 01.3.14 Greenhouse Zebra Producciones ES Israel, Turkey 180.000 01.3.16 BDC AGITPROP BG Kosovo, Macedonia 25.000 01.3.19 Co-Pro Europe/ Canada Erich Pommer Institut GER Canada 150.000 01.3.21 EAVE Latin America EAVE LUX Argentina 140.000 01.3.31 Babylon International Scripthouse GER Nigeria 100.000 01.3.32 Tareula II EGEDA ES Brazil, Uruguay 80.000 01.3.37 Dragon Forum 2010 Arkana Studio PL Ukraine 36.318 01.3.39 Traineastfilm Romanian Film Sector Association RO Moldavia, Turkey, Ukraine, Armenia, Russia 90.000 01.3.40 FBS-LA 2010 Fundacion Cultural Media ES Brazil 80.000 TOTAL 2.038.709 List of selected projects Lot 2 - Promotion N° Acronyme Coordinator Partners in third countries Allocated Community Support 02.01 SCS Art Fest BG Bosnia 75.000 02.02 Collab Stichting Filmfestival Rotterdam NL Argentina 25.000 02.04 AIM VALDIVIA ACE Ateliers du Cinéma Européen F Chile 70.000 02.05 CE Warszawska Fundacja Filmova PL Russia 89.925 02.06 Paris Project 2010 Paris Cinema International Film Festival F Korea 50.000 02.08 Producers Lab Toronto European Film Promotion GER Canada 47.600 02.10 ASD Images du Réel F Hong Kong 110.000 02.11 ES/D/DF European Documentary Network DK China 100.000 02.14 WDE Foundation International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam NL Canada 70.000 02.19 BE'E MTÜ BE EE Russia 50.000 TOTAL 687.525 List of selected projects Lot 3 - Distribution N° Acronyme Coordinator Partners in third countries Allocated Community Support 03.02 Bridges Europe/Turquey European Film Promotion GER Turkey 60.650 03.05 X2 Celluloid Dreams F USA, Japan 700.000 03.08 Ventana Sur Association française du Festival International du Film F Argentina 250.000 03.10 DOMLA Planeta Med ES Chile, Uruguay 55.000 TOTAL 1.065.650 List of selected project Lot 4 - Screening N° Acronyme Coordinator Partners in third countries Allocated Community Support 04.01 Europa Cinemas International Europa Cinemas F 382 EUR cinemas + 183 third country cinemas 900.000 TOTAL 900.000 Cinemas from third countries covered by Europa Cinemas International Country Number of cinemas Number of screens India 8 36 Malaysia 8 82 Singapore 14 114 Japan 15 49 South Korea 15 83 Mexico 19 53 Costa Rica 1 2 Argentina 22 42 Brazil 28 90 Chile 2 3 Colombia 19 37 Ecuador 2 4 Peru 1 1 Venezuela 10 15 Palestinian Territories 1 2 Algeria 1 1 Egypt 3 27 Israel 3 11 Lebanon 5 23 Morocco 3 4 Syria 1 4 Tunisia 2 3 Total 183 686 List of selected projects Lot 5 - Audiences N° Acronyme Coordinator Partners in third countries Allocated Community Support 05.01 OK Asociatia Pentru Promovarea Filmului Romanesc RO Bosnia, Turkey 140.000 05.05 CinELmotion EAVI B Argentina, Uruguay 128.116 TOTAL 268.116