28/05/2013 - French and Croatian culture ministers signed a co-production agreement between the two countries last week in Cannes

Minister of Culture of the Republic of Croatia Andrea Zlatar Violić, and Minister of Culture of the French Republic Aurelie Filippetti signed the Co-production Agreement between the government of the Republic of Croatia and the government of the French Republic last week in Cannes.

Éric Garandeau, head of the Frence's Centre of Cinema and the Moving Image (CNC), and Hrvoje Hribar, head of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (HAVC), attended the signing. CNC and HAVC will be in charge of the implementation of future collaborations.

“The collaboration between France and Croatia was technically possible even before the signing of this Agreement, moreover, it was growing,” said Hribar. “Last year in Croatia the French film Eyjafjallojökull by Alexandre Coffre was filmed, and this year Croatian director Ognjen Sviličić’s Quiet People was granted funds from CNC. The agreement closes one period and begins a new one. Since one of the signatories is large and the other is significantly smaller, this Agreement to our film and cinema primarily signals an official entrance to the largest European film market.”

Violić said, “The Agreement provides a basis for collaboration between Croatian and French filmmakers and producers, either in terms of receiving financial grants from foreign and French funds, either in terms of presenting film in French cinemas or participating at French and international film festivals. France is a country with a most developed cultural policy, currently mostly dealing with the balance between culture as art and market challenges. Croatia should take the French road because, aside from its four million citizens, it has a prospective 20 million viewers in the region.”

After almost a decade of low grosses for local films, with rare exceptions, ticket sales for Croatian films have been on the rise in the last two years. Vinko Bresan’s comedy The Priest’s Children, sold 158,025 admissions in the territory to gross $749,675, and has been sold by Wide Management for theatrical distribution in Spain, Italy, Norway and Sweden, while France and Poland are still being negotiated.