Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales has become a strong partner to Nordic films – in particular from Iceland - over the last 3 years. With his small team of dedicated arthouse film lovers, founder and managing director Jan Naszewski has handled an impressive slate of festival hits such as the feature lengths Rams, Bridgent, The Here After, Under the Tree, Winter Brothers, and the short films Incident By the Bank by Ruben Östlund and Oscar nominated Do I have to Take Care of Everything? by Selma Vilhunen.

What is your focus at Berlin’s European Film Market?
Jan Naszewski: The Swedish animated film Gordon & Paddy is having its international premiere so we are pushing this title. The film was just sold to New Horizons (Poland). It's a signal for the market that we are entering the family animation market. One more film in that genre is already lined up in our catalogue. We are also work on our two strong Sundance films Pity by Babis Makridis and Loveling by Gustavo Pizzi that have their market premieres in Berlin. I'm also very keen on getting some buzz around Anna Odell's upcoming film and the new Swedish coproduction The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea from Greece.

How did buyers react to the work in progress of Anna Odell’s project in Göteborg? 
JN: There was a lot of excitement about the project. Anna is a great talent and a very interesting personality so everybody is sure that she will come up with a piece of work that can be a relevant comment on our society. We need to give her time to edit and see what she will come up with. I'm sure that whatever the final film will be, it will spark a wide discussion.

What is your international strategy for Gordon & Paddy?
JN: The film is a quality animation for children and families, not a flashy, commercial 3D production. We will show it to theatrical, TV and educational buyers. I'm very curious what the response will be. My colleague Katarzyna Siniarska will also attend Cartoon Movie in March to follow up with the relevant companies.

What is the share of Nordic films in your line-up?
JN: One third of our feature film catalogue consists of Nordic co-productions. We are especially strong with Icelandic, Swedish and Danish films.

You have many Icelandic films. Is this just a coincidence or a particular taste for Icelandic storytellers?
JN: After the success of Rams we developed a good reputation in Iceland and a great working relationship with Grímar Jónsson at Netop Films, who became a real friend and a strategic partner for me. It's really important for us to work with producers and filmmakers that we also like as people – it makes everything much more enjoyable. Icelanders also has a sense of humour that I love and the country comes up with simple but beautiful stories.

You work with many talented directors on their feature debuts. How do you make sure they stay with you?
JN: We are a discovery label, also because we are still doing short film sales and are able to spot talents early on. We love finding someone unknown and putting a spotlight on him or her. Often distributors ask us "You managed to get a great film out of nowhere - again! How did you do it?" It's a great feeling. Then retaining directors is a challenge for every sales agent or distributor. At the same time following up a success with a new film is difficult and stressful for the filmmaker. We try to be a partner and a friend for our film teams and bring our know-how as a value and support them in making new works, not just through MGs.