179 European films received Film Sales Support (FSS) from Hamburg-based EFP (European Film Promotion) accomplishing its core mission to facilitate sales to countries outside of Europe.
FSS plays a crucial role in facilitating investment in additional promotional activities which makes a difference for the international perception of European cinema. Financial support in overlapping years was available for EFP-affiliated world sales companies to bolster campaigns of altogether 143 finished and 36 unfinished European fiction films, animations and documentaries.
***click here for all funded films in 2022/2023***
The mainly digital marketing campaigns were developed to target buyers at the festivals of Toronto, Tokyo, Sundance, SXSW and Tribeca in the US, Hot Docs in Canada and San Sebastián as well as at the prominent international film markets, AFM in the US, FILMART in Hong Kong, Asian Contents & Film Market in South Korea, the EFM in Berlin and the Marché du Film in Cannes.
The campaigns for primarily fiction films included animations for children and families such as Rosa and The Stone Troll by Karla Holmbäck (Denmark, France / LevelK) and Argonuts by David Alaux (France / Kinology) but also animated dramas for adults, such as White Plastic Sky by Tibor Bánoczki & Sarolta Szabo (Hungary, Slovak Republic / Films Boutique) and The Siren by Sepideh Farsi (France, Luxembourg, Germany / Bac Films Distribution).
On the documentary side, campaigns were boosted for the Cannes Competition title Four Daughters by Kaouther Ben Hania (France, Germany / The Party Film Sales) and Lynx Man by Juha Suonpää (Finland / Rise and Shine World Sales) at Hot Docs, to name just a few of the 17 supported docs.
36 per cent of the films connected with FSS were directed by women, such as Club Zero by Jessica Hausner (Austria, UK, Germany, France, Denmark / Coproduction Office) - part of the Official Competition in Cannes - Critic’s Week opening film, Ama Gloria by Marie Amachoukeli (France / Pyramide), Rosa and The Stone Troll by Karla Holmbäck (Denmark, France / LevelK), The Enchanted by Elena Trapé (Spain / Latido Films), Sisters by Linda Olte (Latvia, Italy / True Colours) as well as Sundance prize winners When It Melts by Veerle Baetens (Belgium / The Party Film Sales) and Smoke Sauna Sisterhood by Anna Hints (Estonia / Autlook Filmsales).
Last year’s launch of FSS Inclusion which covers the promotion of films depicting gender balance, equity and inclusion yielded first supports for 3 films: Rapture by Angela Ottobah (France / Best Friend Forever), Lala by Ludovica Fales (Italy / Slingshot Films) and The Many Lives of Edouard Louis by François Caillat (France / Outplay Films).
World sales LevelK benefitted from the new FSS Digital Plus for the film Great Yarmouth – Provisional Figures by Marco Martins (Portugal, France) which screened in main Competition at the San Sebastián Film Festival.
Thanks to funding from SWISS FILMS, promotion campaigns for 7 films from Switzerland received a push via FSS, amongst them the documentary Happy Pills by Arnaud Robert & Paolo Woods (Lightdox / Sweet Spot Docs), the Swiss-Georgian coproduction, Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry by Elene Naveriani (Totem Films) as well as Let Me Go by Maxime Rappaz (M-Appeal World Sales).
The pan-European FSS is backed by Creative Europe MEDIA of the European Union since 2004.
Upcoming support opportunities until the end of 2023 are available for Toronto, Tokyo, the Asian Contents & Film Market and the AFM. In 2024, FSS is available for Sundance, the EFM, the FILMART, SXSW, Hot Docs, the Marché du Film and Tribeca.
