Under the agreement, a total of six new feature documentaries will be supported between 2014 and 2016. These will consist of three minority Dutch and three minority Norwegian co-productions.
Bjørn Arne Odden, Senior Advisor Production at the Norwegian Film Institute said: “This is an important step for the Norwegian documentary industry to further open up for co-production and for the visibility of Norwegian documentaries in the Netherlands, Europe and the world. We consider The Netherlands as being one of the leading countries worldwide in both producing and promoting documentary films and we therefore believe that this agreement will be beneficial for the industries in both countries.”
Doreen Boonekamp, Netherlands Film Fund CEO (pictured left with Nina Refseth of Norwegian Film Institute) added: “This agreement is a logical step in the on-going collaboration with our Scandinavian counterparts. We want to stimulate filmmakers from both countries to seek theatrical release of their films. The Netherlands Film Fund has recently modified its regulations to enable this. Their effort is required to reach maximum audiences theatrically, on TV and beyond.”
This crucial agreement comes on the back of a €20m new annual scheme in the Netherlands, available from 2014 in the form of cash rebates to international producers/filmmakers wanting to co-produce with Dutch partners and to shoot in the Netherlands.
Norway has a strong presence at IDFA with four films screening in various competition sections including Twin Sisters by Mona Friis Bertheussen (Moment Film) selected for the Mid-length competition section. The film focuses on infant Chinese twin sisters who were separated at birth and adopted by families in California and Norway. They grow up in the knowledge that that have a twin sister at the other side of the world and finally meet up at the age of eight. The film backed by TV2 Norway, SVT and DR was number two at IDFA’s Top Audience Award chart (as of yesterday).
IDFA closes on Sunday.