Foreign minister cheers European film cooperation

by Annika Pham

22/08/2007 - During last night’s opening of the New Nordic Films market at the 35th Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre stressed his government's commitment to the local film industry and Norway's role within the European film scene.

"This government has increased the allocation for film in the national budget by over 60m kroner," the foreign minister reminded the 300 plus industry people and festival participants at Haugesund's Edda Cinema. "It has also presented a White Paper on Norwegian film, which indicates that a further increase is in the pipeline. The government’s objective is twofold: to encourage the production of more films that reach the general public and to increase the number of women both in front of and behind the camera. The increase in funding should give a real boost to the industry”.

The European film panorama offers a number of valuable tools for promoting cultural diversity and cooperation. The EU-initiated MEDIA Programme – in which Norway and Iceland participate through the EEA – is a good example of this. The Council of Europe’s Eurimages cooperation programme and the Nordic Film and Television Fund offer European filmmakers opportunities to reach new audiences.

“Norway is of course an active supporter of these programmes. It is good to see the fruits of this cooperation, in the form of new co-productions that are enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of film fans," added Gahr Støre.