2010 is a decisive year for Denmark and Sweden as negotiations for the renewal of their respective Film Agreements come to an end and new film policies will be implemented for 2011-2014. The Danish Film Institute (DFI)'s own vision for the future of Danish film is outlined in the document ‘Sæt Filmen Fri (‘Set The Film Free') published last Friday. The same day, the Swedish Film Institute presented its response to a government-commissioned report - written by Mads Svegfors - on the Future Film Policy in Sweden. Here under are some of the key points outlined in the reports.
Denmark
After years of stable national admissions for Danish films at around 25% of the market, the 17% share of 2009 was described by Henrik Bo Nielsen as a ‘warning flash' for Danish cinema. Too many films look alike - partly due to a reduced risk factor per film and cinema audience is starting to fall. To stop the haemorrhage, three crucial problems within the film sector first need to be addressed: the weak financial structure of each film; the over-monitoring of the film sector that tends to prevent efficiency within the sector, and the influence of broadcasters DR and TV2, obliged as per the current Film Agreement to contribute 43% of the Danish film budget.
Looking ahead, and assuming that these problems would be dealt with, the DFI has identified a series of objectives to improve its current film support system. Those include:
- The capping of the volume of films to 25 per year to give each film a proper support.
- The creation of four film categories to promote a greater diversity in filmmaking. The 25 films per year would therefore be split into: 7-10 mainstream films for a domestic audience (such as Flame & Citron), 7-10 quality auteur films (such as Terribly Happy), 1-2 films anchored in Danish culture, but aimed at the international market (such as Antichrist), 5-9 minority Danish co-productions (such as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). Children and youth films would still represent a fourth of all films and documentary support would be increased.
- The readjusting and redefinition of the ‘Feature film commissioner' into a ‘Fiction commissioner' to encompass feature length, but also short film and web series for internet and mobile phones. The 60/40 support system would also change to Market-oriented (Markedsordningen) support.
- The widening of talent support (under New Danish Screen) to encompass TV genres and mainstream films.
- The creation of a new DFI international co-productions and co-financing department.
Sweden
In its answer to Mads Svegfors report on the future film policy in Sweden, the Swedish Film Institute has put forward six major points:
- Wider Film Agreement: The SFI suggests keeping the current Film Agreement and widening its scope by making other media partners (such as ISP and telecom companies) contribute to the financing of Swedish film, alongside tradition TV broadcasters and the government.
- Increase the film budget by SEK 100m (€9.8m). The SEK100m new funds would be split accordingly: SEK10m to talent development; SEK15m to documentary films; SEK33m to increase the current SFI support per film from 32 to 40%; SEK50m to increase the number of feature films supported from 14 to 22 per year.
- Keep the Public Related Support given out after a film's theatrical release if admissions are above 30,000.
- Strengthen the production sector by giving producers a first position on recoupment.
- Promote gender equality.
- Make sure the State takes part in the digitisation of cinemas.
For the full reports, check on http://www.dfi.dk/ and http://www.sfi.se/