“Further punch” for Polish-German co-productions: New partner and increased budget for the Polish-German Film Fund

One day before the award ceremonies for the European Film Awards, Magdalena Sroka, head of the Polish Film Institute, Kirsten Niehuus, head of Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Claas Danielsen, head of Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, and Peter Dinges, head of Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA), signed an agreement on cooperation within the framework of the Polish-German Film Fund, which added the FFA Federal Film Fund as a new partner of this initiative. At the same time, the annual budget of the Fund, which replaced the Polish-German Co-Development Fond in 2015, will increase from 300.000 to 500.000 Euros.

The Polish-German Film Fund focusses on supporting collaborative film projects. The concept goes back to an initiative which was developed after an idea by the Polish producer Dariusz Jablonski and Kirsten Niehuus at the East-West co-production market connecting cottbus and lead to the establishment of the Polish-German Co-Development Fond in 2005.

„Germany and Poland are two nations with a long and versatile film tradition; films made today in both countries, such as Paweł Pawlikowski’s IDA and Maren Ade’s TONI ERDMANN, gain acclaim around the world. After eleven years of supporting script development, Polish-German co-productions are now able to seek support also for the production stage”, stated Magdalena Sroka, Kirsten Niehuus and Claas Danielsen. While Peter Dinges mentioned: “With the FFA as a new partner, the German-Polish Film Fund, as of now, will be flanked by the national film funding institutions of both countries. This will give the transnational film fund a further punch! ”

The Polish-German Film Fund was launched in 2005 with a budget of 150.000 Euro for the co-development of Polish-German projects and added by a production fund in 2016. Since then, the Fund participated in more than 30 joint projects , among them Marie Noëlles MARIE CURIE, Agnieszka Hollands GAME CUNT and Marta Minorowiczs ZUD.

Futher information can be found at the websites of the participating institutions: en.pisf.pl, medienboard.de; ffa.de and mdm-online.de.