THE NEWS

A new President for Eurimages

20/11/2009 - Following his election in anticipation at the 112th meeting of the Board of Management on 12-15 October 2008 in Reykjavik (Iceland), Mr Jobst Plog starts today in his capacity as President of Eurimages for a first two-year mandate (until 19 November 2011), taking over from Mr Jacques Toubon.

NEW CO-PRODUCTION REGULATIONS!

21/10/2009 - The regulations concerning co-production support for full-length feature films, animations and documentaries and the regulations of the digitisation support have been modified for the year 2010 (deadline: 7 December 2009).

The deadline for the first meeting of 2010 is no longer in January but in fact in December 2009. Please consult the calendar for 2010 deadlines.

* The concept of the “European origin” of a project has been removed from the Regulations (former Article 1.6.1). This means that Eurimages will no longer consider the “European origin” of the project (development phase) as an eligibility criterion. However, the definition of the European character of the project based on the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-production remains unchanged.

* The non-proportional allocation of Eurimages support is now available to all co-producers, regardless of the country in which the production company is based (Article 4.3.2). This means that producers established in the larger territories such as France, Germany, Italy and Spain can also take advantage of this measure.

* The selection criteria applied by the Board of Management are now clearer and read as follows:

ARTISTIC CRITERIA

• Quality of the script/level of development
• Story and theme (originality of content, subject)
• Characters and dialogue
• Narrative structure
• Style (director’s intention, cinematic vision, genre, tone)
• Contribution of the creative team (including experience, track record)
• Director and author(s)
• Producers
• Cast and crew

PRODUCTION CRITERIA

• Artistic and technical cooperation
• Circulation potential (festivals, distribution, audience)
• Financing (consistency and level of confirmed financing)

* 50 DVDs with English or French subtitles must be made available for the Board of Management before payment of the last instalment of Eurimages support. This measure responds to the Board of Management representatives’ wish to have an overview of the results of their decisions. 

* The above-mentioned changes, which will come into effect as of 7 December 2009, are not retroactive.

MedFilm Festival 2009: The Eurimages Italy Award goes to "Pandora's Box"

Rome, 15.11.2009 – For its fifth edition, the Eurimages Italy Award, attributed to Eurimages-supported co-productions (Eurimages New Europe Competition), went to the film "Pandora's Box"directed by Yesim Ustaoglu and co-produced by Turkey, France, Belgium and Germany.
Official website.

"Lourdes" wins Best Film at Seville Festival

Seville, 14.11.2009 – The film "Lourdes" (supported by Eurimages) by the Austrian director Jessica Hausner, has won the Gold Giraldillo for Best Film at the Seville Festival which closed tonight. The Jury emphasized the sensation of uncertainty given by Jessica Hausner’s film and its ability to capture the audience’s attention. The Eurimages Award, with a cash prize of 30,000 euros, has gone to "Tears of April" (FIN, DE, GR), directed by Aku Louhimies. The film, set during the Finnish civil war in 1918, tells the story of a man and a woman on opposite sides whose lives cross, lighting the spark of a tense love amidst the horrors of the conflict. Festival website.

"Home" and "Three Monkeys" rewarded at the "Etoiles et Toiles du Cinéma Européen" Festival

Strasbourg, 12.11.2009 - A jury consisting of eight ambassadors and two members of the Council of Europe Secretariat, presided over by Daryal Batibay, Ambassador of Turkey, awarded two honorary prizes at the 10th annual “Etoiles et Toiles du cinéma européen”, cinema Odyssée in Strasbourg, dedicated exclusively to feature films supported by Eurimages.

The Odyssée-Council of Europe Prize for Human Rights was awarded to “Home” by Ursula Meier, a co-production between Switzerland, France and Belgium with Isabelle Huppert, Olivier Gourmet, Adelaïde Leroux.

The Odyssée-Council of Europe Prize for Artistic Creation was awarded to “Three Monkeys” by Nuri Bilge, a co-production between Turkey, France and Italy with Ahmet Rifat Sungar, Hatice Asian, Yavuz Bingol.

See the press-release

Six nominations for Eurimages' supported films at the European Film Awards 2009

07/11/2009 - Two films supported by Eurimages get six nominations at the 22nd European Film Awards, as announced at the Seville European Film Festival:
"Das weisse Band" (The White Ribbon) [DE, AT, FR, IT] by Michael Haneke is nominated in the following categories: European Film 2009, European Director 2009, European Screenwriter 2009 and "Carlo di Palma European Cinematographer Award 2009" (Christian Berger) ;
"Vincere" by Marco Bellocchio, a co-production between Italy and France, is nominated in two categories: European Actor 2009 (Filippo Timi) and European Film Academy Prix d'Excellence 2009 (Francesca Calvelli for the editing)..
The more than 2,000 EFA Members will now vote for the winners which will be presented during the Awards Ceremony on 12 December in Bochum.

Diana Elbaum (Entre Chien et Loup, Brussels) and Jani Thiltges (Samsa Film, Luxembourg), winners of the Prix Eurimages 2009

17/10/2009 - The winners of the third edition of the Prix Eurimages were announced on Saturday 17 October 2009 at a press conference at the Casa del Cinema in the framework of the "New Cinema Network" during the Rome Film Festival: Diana Elbaum and Jani Thiltges will be awarded this European co-production prize during the European Film Awards Ceremony in Bochum (Germany) on Saturday 12 December 2009. For further information: www.europeanfilmacademy.org. See also the press-release.

Photo (from left to right): Roberto Olla, Diana Elbaum, Marion Döring, Adriana Chiesa, Jani Thiltges

Support Decisions

28/09/2009 - At its 116th meeting held from 22 to 25 September 2009 in Strasbourg, the Board of Management of the Council of Europe's Eurimages Fund agreed to support 13 feature films for co-production. It also gave its support to 47 projects for distribution. (Press Release)

List of co-productions supported in 2009
List of distributors supported in 2009

Eurimages celebrates its 20th anniversary

22/09/09 – On the occasion of the 116th meeting of the Eurimages Board of Management which is currently being held in Strasbourg (22-25 September 2009) and of the 20th anniversary of the Fund, the President Jacques Toubon invited some 250 personalities of the Council of Europe, the City of Strasbourg and its Region, as well as the European Cinematographic Industry, to a Gala dinner at the Palais des Rohan on Tuesday 22 September 2009. Since its establishment in 1989, the Eurimages Fund has supported the co-production of 1279 full-length features and documentaries for a total amount of more than 380 million euros. A number of these films have been rewarded by prestigious prizes such as the Oscars in Los Angeles, the Gold Lion in Venice, the Gold Bear in Berlin or the Palmes d’Or in Cannes, the last of which was awarded to the film “The White Ribbon” by Michael Haneke, supported by Eurimages.

Nine prizes for Eurimages-supported films at the Venice Film Festival

14/09/09 – The Silver Lion for best director was awarded to Shirin Neshat , who is of Iranian nationality, for “Women without Men”, a co-production between Germany, Austria and France supported by Eurimages. This film aslo received the UNICEF Prize.
“Mr Nobody” by Jaco Van Dormael received the prize for best set designer (Sylvie Olivé) with the "Osella" for Best Technical Contribution as well as the Biografilm Lancia-fiction Prize;
“Lourdes” by Jessica Hausner, of Austrian nationality, received the FIPRESCI Prize, the SIGNIS Prize, the La Navicella-Venezia Cinema Prize and the Brian Prize;
and “Metropia” by Tarik Saleh was awarded the Future Film Festival Digital Award.
A total of nine prizes in favour of European co-productions supported by the Eurimages Fund.

Venice International Film Festival website

"Ordinary People" wins the prize for Best Film at Sarajevo Film Festival

24/08/2009 – The Serbian film “Ordinary People”, supported by Eurimages, won the prize for Best Film at the 15th Sarajevo Film Festival. Vladimir Perišić, 33, director of the award-winning film, received a heart-shaped award – the “Heart of Sarajevo”- and a cash prize of 25,000 euros provided by the Council of Europe, sponsor of the event. Moreover, Relja Popovic, who played Dzoni, won the Best actor award. This film also received the FIPRESCI Prize (International Film Critics).

Website

Five Eurimages films amongst ten shortlisted for the European Parliament Film Prize

16/06/2009 - 10 films have been shortlisted for the 2009 European Parliament's LUX Prize, which aims to spotlight the wealth and diversity of European cinema. They have been selected because of their quality and their contribution to the European public debate, highlighting topics such as solidarity, immigration, justice, public freedom or fundamental rights.
Five of the ten films in the Official Selection have received Eurimages support: "35 rhums" by Claire Denis (France, Belgium, Germany), "Für ein Augenblick Freiheit" by Arash T. Riahi (Austria, France, Turkey), "Lost Persons Area" by Caroline Strubbe (Belgium, Hungary, the Netherlands), "Pandora's Box" by Yesim Ustaoglu (Turkey, France, Germany, Belgium) and "Storm" by Hans-Christian Schmid (Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands).
Out of the ten films selected, three will compete for the LUX Prize 2009. The three films chosen will be disclosed during the Venice International Film Festival in September. A vote will then be cast by the 736 Members of the European Parliament to elect the winner, which will be awarded the LUX Prize 2009 at the European Parliament on 25 November in Strasbourg.

Website