IP/09/1334 Brussels, 18 September 2009 Europe's cinema goes global: 40 international film cooperation projects benefit from EU support of €5 million Today, the European Commission announced €5 million of funding for 2009 to strengthen cultural and commercial relations between Europe's film industry and film-makers of third countries. The EU funding will enable European film makers, animators and other audiovisual professionals to learn new skills, and promote the industry, by cooperating with professionals outside Europe, and vice-versa. 40 projects will benefit from EU funding. They include joint training, reciprocal promotion, distribution and film screenings and other actions to encourage audiences in Europe and abroad to discover foreign films. The funding takes place under MEDIA International, an initiative for EU funding of international film cooperation started in 2008. Compared to 2008, this year's funding and number of selected projects have more than doubled (last year, 18 projects were funded by the EU with €2 million,   IP/08/1273  ). This was made possible thanks to last December's vote by the European Parliament to increase the budget for international cooperation in the film sector.  "Europe has an exciting,  culturally diverse and innovative film sector which is eager to share its knowledge with audiovisual professionals from other parts of the world and at the same time to learn from them, taking into account other cultural backgrounds and experiences" said Viviane Reding, EU Media Commissioner. " The  €5 million announced today for project funding demonstrates the EU's enhanced commitment to boosting Europe's audiovisual industries internationally. I am particularly grateful to the European Parliament for its decisions which have highlighted the importance of cross-border cooperation and cultural diversity for the film sector in Europe and in our partner countries. " To strengthen the global outreach of Europe's film sector, the European Commission announced today the 40 projects selected out of the 95 applications for funding under MEDIA International, an EU funding action that is running over three years (2008-2010). The European Parliament voted last December an enhanced budget of €5 million for 2009. Today's announcement is the start of intensified EU efforts to increase consumer choice by bringing more diverse films to European and international markets and create new business opportunities for audiovisual professionals from Europe and around the globe.  A total of 23 training projects will be funded, partnering European and global professionals to deepen understanding of the operating conditions, legal frameworks, and financing of the audiovisual markets abroad. For example, the Babylon International project will organise workshops in cooperation with West-African countries.  Ten projects that help audiovisual works to access international markets and promote their chances for distribution have also been funded. The Producers Lab Toronto will build on its strong links with the Toronto International Film Festival to create new in-roads for up-and-coming European and Canadian producers with strong projects targeted for international co-production.  The EU is also supporting 4 projects on the distribution of European films in third countries and vice-versa. In particular Ventana Sur is opening up a major new film market for Latin-American productions in Buenos Aires thanks to cooperation between the Argentinean Instituto Nacional de Cine y Artes Audiovisuales and the Cannes International Film Market.  Furthermore, the EU is also supporting   Europa Cinemas   , a network of 342 cinemas in Europe and 183 in third countries for the screening of European, Mediterranean, Asian and Latin-American films.  Finally, MEDIA International will support 2 projects aiming at increasing the potential audience for foreign films. One of them, called Operation Kino, will use a travelling digital projector to bring European and International films to cinema-deprived areas. Background:  The MEDIA International preparatory action was agreed by the EU institutions in 2007 to pave the way for the new MEDIA MUNDUS programme. This new EU programme for international film cooperation will run from 2011-2013 and provide €15 million of funding to capitalise on growing interest and the opportunities offered by global cooperation of the EU audiovisual industry (   IP/09/26   ).   Within Europe, the existing MEDIA 2007 programme will provide €755 million to Europe's audiovisual industry from 2007-2013, helping European professionals get training and develop, distribute and promote their works around Europe (   IP/07/169   ).   Over the past years several MEDIA-funded films produced in Europe have proven the investment worth winning prestigious awards including, at the Cannes Film Festival, the Palme d'Or ( Entre Les Murs, France ), the Grand Prix du Jury ( Gomorra, Italy ) (   IP/08/8    00  ) as well as Oscars for The Counterfeiters ( Die Fälscher/Austria-Germany ), La Vie en Rose ( La Môme/France ) (   IP/08/298   ) and most recently Slumdog Millionaire (UK) (   IP/09/284   ). List of projects supported so far under MEDIA International:    http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/media/overview/international/projects/index_en.htm    On MEDIA MUNDUS:    http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/media/mundus/index_en.htm          RESULTS OF 2 nd CALL MEDIA INTERNATIONAL PREPARATORY ACTION 2009  List of selected projects Lot 1 – Training              N°   Acronyme   Coordinator    Partners in third countries   Allocated Community Support     01.2.01   DCM ASIA-PACIFIC   Documentary Campus   GER   n.a.   50.000     01.2.02   ACE-IPA 2   ACE   F   n.a   35.600     01.2.03   S&P International   MG LAB Italia   IT   n.a   25.000     01.2.04   EURODOC International   EURODOC   F   n.a.   60.000     01.2.06   EAVE FFF   EAVE   LUX   n.a.   16.352     01.2.08   MEGA PLUS   Fundacion Cultural Media   ES   n.a.   30.000     01.3.01   STC 2010   Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin   GER   Bosnia   20.000     01.3.02   AJ B-CAMPUS   ACE Ateliers du Cinéma Européen   F   Japan   60.439     01.3.04   TFL/DIFF/EAVE Dvpt and Co-prod workshops   Museo Nazionale del Cinema-Fondazione Maria Adriana Prolo   IT   Dubai   120.000     01.3.05   BB   Huston School of Film   IRL   Tunisia, Burkina Faso   100.000     01.3.08   Ties that bind-EAVE Asia   FVG Film Commission   IT   Korea   120.000     01.3.09   CARTOON CONNECTION 2010   Association Européenne du Film d'Animation - CARTOON   BE   Argentina, Australia, Korea   300.000     01.3.10   CSF   Confédération internationale des cinémas d'art et d'essai   F   Chile, Venezuela   110.000     01.3.13   ESoDoc INDIA   Zelig Soc. Coop   IT   India   110.000     01.3.14   Greenhouse   Zebra Producciones   ES   Israel, Turkey   180.000     01.3.16   BDC   AGITPROP   BG   Kosovo, Macedonia   25.000     01.3.19   Co-Pro Europe/ Canada   Erich Pommer Institut   GER   Canada   150.000     01.3.21   EAVE Latin America   EAVE   LUX   Argentina   140.000     01.3.31   Babylon International   Scripthouse   GER   Nigeria   100.000     01.3.32   Tareula II   EGEDA   ES   Brazil, Uruguay   80.000     01.3.37   Dragon Forum 2010   Arkana Studio   PL   Ukraine   36.318     01.3.39   Traineastfilm   Romanian Film Sector Association   RO   Moldavia, Turkey, Ukraine, Armenia, Russia   90.000     01.3.40   FBS-LA 2010   Fundacion Cultural Media   ES   Brazil   80.000     TOTAL       2.038.709      List of selected projects Lot 2 - Promotion              N°   Acronyme   Coordinator    Partners in third countries   Allocated Community Support     02.01   SCS   Art Fest   BG   Bosnia   75.000     02.02   Collab   Stichting Filmfestival Rotterdam   NL   Argentina   25.000     02.04   AIM VALDIVIA   ACE Ateliers du Cinéma Européen   F   Chile   70.000     02.05   CE   Warszawska Fundacja Filmova   PL   Russia   89.925     02.06   Paris Project 2010   Paris Cinema International Film Festival   F   Korea   50.000     02.08   Producers Lab Toronto   European Film Promotion   GER   Canada   47.600     02.10   ASD   Images du Réel   F   Hong Kong   110.000     02.11   ES/D/DF   European Documentary Network   DK   China   100.000     02.14   WDE   Foundation International Documentary Filmfestival Amsterdam   NL   Canada   70.000     02.19   BE'E   MTÜ BE    EE   Russia   50.000     TOTAL            687.525      List of selected projects Lot 3 - Distribution              N°   Acronyme   Coordinator    Partners in third countries   Allocated Community Support     03.02   Bridges Europe/Turquey   European Film Promotion   GER   Turkey   60.650     03.05   X2   Celluloid Dreams   F   USA, Japan   700.000     03.08   Ventana Sur   Association française du Festival International du Film   F   Argentina   250.000     03.10   DOMLA   Planeta Med   ES   Chile, Uruguay   55.000     TOTAL            1.065.650      List of selected project Lot 4 - Screening              N°   Acronyme   Coordinator    Partners in third countries   Allocated Community Support     04.01   Europa Cinemas International   Europa Cinemas   F   382 EUR cinemas + 183 third country cinemas   900.000     TOTAL      900.000       Cinemas from third countries covered by Europa Cinemas International           Country   Number of cinemas   Number of screens     India   8   36     Malaysia   8   82     Singapore   14   114     Japan   15   49     South Korea   15   83     Mexico   19   53     Costa Rica   1   2     Argentina   22   42     Brazil   28   90     Chile   2   3     Colombia   19   37     Ecuador   2   4     Peru   1   1     Venezuela   10   15     Palestinian Territories   1   2     Algeria   1   1     Egypt   3   27     Israel   3   11     Lebanon   5   23     Morocco   3   4     Syria   1   4     Tunisia   2   3     Total   183   686      List of selected projects Lot 5 - Audiences             N°   Acronyme   Coordinator    Partners in third countries   Allocated Community Support     05.01   OK   Asociatia Pentru Promovarea Filmului Romanesc   RO   Bosnia, Turkey   140.000     05.05   CinELmotion   EAVI   B   Argentina, Uruguay   128.116     TOTAL      268.116