New Norwegian Sørfond sends €530,000 to films from south

by Jorn Rossing Jensen

04/05/2012 - A new Norwegian film fund, the Sørfond, set up by the Norwegian Foreign Ministry following an initiative from the Films from the South Festival, has shared its first €530,000 allocation between seven new productions from India, Argentina, Bolivia, Pakistan and Palestine.

Since 1991, Oslo’s Films from the South Festival and Artistic Director Lasse Skagen (pictured) has annually presented a programme of 100 features and documentaries from Asia, Africa and Latin America. The October 2011 showcase included a Pitching Forum for the new fund, which resulted in 38 applications being judged by a jury presided over by film critic/consultant Kalle Løchen.

“Through the Sørfond we contribute to giving filmmakers from the South an opportunity to show their own culture, thus giving us a better understanding of the word around us,” said Norwegian Development Minister Heikki Holmås. The initiative aims to support the production of film in countries where it is limited from political, financial or social reasons.

Managed by the Norwegian Film Institute, the Sørfond’s first round of funding was given to Indian director Sourav Sarang’s documentary Char (Norwegian co-producer: Cinema Oslo); Argentinian director Barbara Sarasola-Day’s feature Deshora (Faction Film); Bolivian director Juan Carlos Valdivia’s feature Kandire (PJB Picture Company As); Pakistan director Afia Nathaniel’s feature, Neither the Veil nor the Four Walls (Indie Film); Palestinian director Rashid Masharawi’s Palestine Stereo (Ape & Bjørn); Argentinian director Lucía Puenzo’s feature, Wakolda (Hummelfilm) and Indian director Ritu Sarin’s documentary, When Harri Got Married (Cinema Oslo).