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BERLINALE 2013 Norway

Five Norwegian co-productions selected for Berlinale

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- With €2.7 million for co-productions and €1.5 million for internationalisation of Norwegian cinema, the Norwegian Film Institute increases its foreign efforts to promote Norwegian filmmaking

When Norway signed the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production in 2009, it became simpler for Norwegian producers to co-produce with other countries – and for foreign producers to co-produce with Norway.

The number of co-productions has grown considerably, also supported by the Norwegian Film Institute, which has increased its funding of co-productions (this year to €2.7 million) – and five recent results will screen in the official programme for this year’s Berlin International Film Festival (February 7-17), including:

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US-UK director Joshua Oppenheimer’s Danish production of The Act of Killing [+see also:
trailer
film profile
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 (photo), which won thetop prize at the CPH:DOX-Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival 2012 – a film about Indonesian former death squad leaders re-enacting their real-life mass-killings for the cinema. (Panorama)

Swedish director Simon Klose’s documentary TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away from Keyboard [+see also:
trailer
film profile
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, yet to open in Sweden (February 8) – the inside story of how a cluster of hacktivists built The Pirate Bay, the internet’s largest file-sharing site, which made the White House threaten to impose trade sanctions. (Panorama)

Argentine director Barbara Satasola-Day’s Deshora [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, a drama from a tiny village in northwestern Argentina, where the everyday life of a married couple, Ernesto and Helena, is radically changed when Helena’s cousin Joaquin, just out of rehab, comes to stay with them – and the two men develop a fascination for each other.(Panorama)

Indian director Sourav Sarangi’s documentary Char – The No Man’s Island, which emerged in the river that forms the boarder between India and Bangladesh, after water levels rose and destroyed the homes in a small village. The film describes the battle of survival, ao by smuggling. (Forum)

German director Matthias Glasner’s Mercy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Matthias Glasner
film profile
]
, which was in the Berlin competition last year, a drama about a German married couple who move with their son to Hammerfest in Norway – the northernmost city in the world – hoping of getting a better life together. (German Cinema – Lola@Berlinale).

Both Deshora and Char – The No Man’s Island were supported by Sørfond-the Norwegian South Film Fund, financed by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, which last year contributed to the completion of seven films from Southern countries. Also Film Commission Norway (a part of the institute) and the five regional film funds are involved in international co-productions.

With a record allocation of €1.5 million for the internationalisation of Norwegian cinema, the institute will further strengthen the support and sales of local product at international festivals and markets. “Most recently we have started to back the profiling of Norwegian TV drama abroad, and we have strong ambitions for the continued efforts of branding Norwegian Film,” said executive director Stine Helgeland, of the institute’s department of promotion and international relations.

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