The Fund’s 2021 annual report is available for the first time in a digital form.

In the second year under the pandemic, Nordisk Film & TV Fond has reinforced its role as top-financier of Nordic films, series and documentaries, and pan-Nordic distribution facilitator.

The Fund has also launched new initiatives such as the industry bridge-building ‘Audiovisual Collaboration 2021’, set up in collaboration with the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, as part of Finland’s Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Throughout 2021, eight industry discussions tackled urgent issues such as the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive, public financing and distribution in the streaming era, fostering a green, diverse and socially sustainable industry, in accordance with the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Vision 2030.

The Fund’s new ’theme year’ was inaugurated with a Focus on Documentaries, and a pan-Nordic green programme developed in collaboration with NEMA (Nordic Eco Media Alliance) was instigated.

Record number of fiction production applications
In 2021, the Fund allocated a total of NOK 126.25 million across production, distribution and industry initiatives, against NOK 117.86 million in 2020.

Applications for fiction production support were up 30% from 2020 and 40% from 2019, and within fiction, applications for drama series have more than doubled since 2019, exceeding film submissions.

Out of 96 fiction applications, 63 were granted a total of NOK 102,650,000.

  • 35 feature projects received NOK 51.8 million, with the largest single grant of NOK 2.5 million going to Snowglobe’s Godland (Vanskabte land) by Hlynur Pálmason, selected for Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, SF Studios’ Burn All My Letters (Bränn alla mina brev) by Björn Runge, and Sagafilm’s Operation Napoleon (Napóleonsskjölin) by Óskar Þór Axelsson.
  • 28 drama series received NOK 51.8 million. The largest grants of NOK 4 million and NOK 3.2 million were handed out to Motlys/NRK’s political drama Power Play (Makta) and Apple Tree/SVT’s Blackwater (Händelser vid vatten) respectively.

As a response to the surge in drama series applications and average higher budget of long-format scripted content, the Fund set a support target of approximately 5% for feature films and 3% for drama series.

Also, to favour diversity and originality - two quality factors set in our Funding Policy - back-to-back series or immediate sequels and remakes of feature films won’t be eligible anymore for support.

Documentary Year
Under the Fund’s Documentary Focus, the sector benefitted from a 20% budget increase, from NOK 10 million in 2020 to 12 million.

Out of 35 documentary applications (up 25% from 2020), 22 projects received production support.

Documentary projects that received the largest grants include Sweden’s After Work directed by Erik Gandini for Fasad, and the Norwegian true crime Welcome to Norway (Direktøren) directed by Karianne Berge for Indie Film, awarded NOK 850,000 and NOK 800,000 respectively.

The Documentary Year was celebrated with on-going coverage on our website www.nordicfilmandtvnews.com, the publication of the report ‘Distribution of Nordic Documentaries’, and inspirational talks at CPH:DOX’s Cph:Conference and Nordisk Panorama, as part of ‘Audiovisual Collaboration 2021’.

Children & Youth
Within the Fund’s Children and Youth priority area, 24 projects received support, including seven animation projects. Those include Fleak co-directed by Jens Møller and Luca Bruno for Finland’s Anima Vitae, and Monster Loving Maniacs (Mesterlige Monster Børn) directed by Rune Christensen for Denmark’s Ja Film, granted respectively NOK 2.3 million and NOK 2 million.

Diversity and Representation
Female producers were the biggest recipients of production support, but men are still dominating among writers and directors, especially in feature film.

A positive trend is that minority ethnic groups are increasingly turning to Nordisk Film & TV Fond for support across fiction and non-fiction. After the Faroese series Trom, supported in 2020, the Greenlandic-set feature Kalak, documentary Tsumu-Where Do you Go With Your Dreams?, as well as Sámi-focused film Let the River Flow and docs Historjá-Stitches for Sápmí and Enough in Enough received support in 2021.

Distribution& Dubbing
During the difficult year under Covid 19-related restrictions, the Fund earmarked NOK 8.6 million towards distribution and dubbing, nearing the 2019 investment of NOK 9.38 million.

Twenty-six single distribution grants were handed out in 2021, as well as 13 slate distribution and 13 dubbing grants. Titles that achieved distribution in four Nordic territories include Norway’s Ninjababy, Iceland’s Lamb and Denmark’s Riders of Justice.

Three family films were dubbed into three Nordic languages: A Christmas Tale, Mamma Moo Finds Her Way Home, and The Exploits of Moominpappa, Adventures of a Young Moomin.

Creative Excellence
Nordic creativity was celebrated throughout the year, and several projects supported by the Fund received major recognitions at international film and drama series festivals.

These include the documentaries Flee, President, Sabaya, the features The Worst Person in the World, Compartment No6, Lamb, Ninjababy, drama series Atlantic Crossing, Blackport, Countrymen, Absolute Beginners among others.

Meanwhile the Fund’s own annual events honouring top talents handed out the following awards:

  • Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize to screenwriter Maja Jul Larsen for DR Drama’s Cry Wolf.
  • Nordic Talents’ Pitch Prize to Hawa Sanneh and Jimm Garbis for the project Lovette, and Nordic Talents’ Special Mention to Angelika Abramovitch for A Soviet Love Story.
  • Nordic Council Film Prize to the team behind the Danish documentary Flee, director Jonas Poher Rasmussen, producers Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte de la Gournerie, Final Cut for Real.

To read the full report: CLICK HERE.