How did you have the idea for Eye on Film?
During the 25 years that I've been selling independent films, I've handled a lot of first films and have noticed that it's becoming harder and harder to sell those that do not have key selling elements such as star names or major festival awards. Their life on screen is often reduced to participation at smaller festivals. For debut directors, if their first film is not seen or doesn't work well commercially, they have to wait a long time to make their second feature, or do not get a chance to make another one, which is dramatic for film innovation and culture. I also noticed that some festivals have no links with local distributors. So my idea was to create synergies between festivals and distributors to maximize from the outset the visibility of debut features and their marketing and promotion. We were lucky to submit the idea to the new EU funding programme MEDIA Mundus and received a backing of €200,000.
How many partners have signed on, and how will films be selected?
We now have 30 partners -16 distributors such as First Run Features (US), Nomad Films (Italy), EYZ Media (Germany), and 14 festivals (Tallinn Black Night Film Festival, Mannheim-Heidelberg, Taormina, Edinburgh, Seattle among others) that receive subsidies from us. Representatives on our board select around 12 films per year (50% European and 50% non-European) suggested by Distributors and festivals in each territory. Thanks to our partnership with Cinando and its streaming system, EoF partners are able to vote for the films and exchange information on them. First time features selected are therefore guaranteed automatic distribution in at least 14 territories.
Do you have Scandinavian partners in your network?
Not for the moment, but our network -which is open to anyone- is increasing rapidly.
What titles have you selected so far?
Our first title is Oliver Sherman by Canadian director Ryan Redford. The second film will be selected after Cannes.
Just a few words about your own company: at the beginning of the European Film Market, you picked up non-US sales rights to the Swedish documentary Black Power Mixtape- 1967-1975. How was buyers' response in Berlin and what are your views on Swedish documentary filmmaking?
We've added Black Power Mixtape to our new documentary strand Wide House, launched in January and managed by Anaïs Clanet. We're already very well established in the documentary field and have handled for instance several Mika Kaurismäki films such as Brasileirinho. Wide House handles around 6-7 theatrical documentaries and another 20 for television. We select works dealing with political and social issues as well as musical and humoristic films. In Berlin, Black Power was sold to Australia and New Zealand and is in negotiations with other territories such as Germany. Personally, I'm totally blown away by Scandinavian documentaries. In Sweden for instance, there is an amazing array of quality films to choose from. It comes from the unique work of film commissioners who follow the films from beginning to end. We hope to pick up more Scandinavian documentaries in the future.