As of May 10, the Göteborg Film Festival is inviting applications to a new international film fund designed “to contribute to a diversified media landscape, with increased artistic freedom and free speech.”
Göteborg Film Fund 2021 is a one-year project, financed by the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with a long-term goal to establish a permanent international film fund. The new fund will target both documentary and fiction works.
During 2021 fund personnel will target four regions, Brazil, Kurdistan, Sudan and Ukraine, and will distribute SEK 4,000,000 (approx €400,000). Support will be given towards the development, post-production and innovative distribution of films and series of “high artistic and democratic value.”
The Foreign Ministry describes the project as “particularly relevant in times when democracy is under pressure and threats against artists and cultural operators are increasing in many parts of the world, as well as for the government’s special focus on democracy, where a distinct goal is to strengthen free and independent media and the carriers of democracy, such as cultural workers.”
The Göteborg Film Festival statement further stresses how during times of severe crisis, “the area of culture often is deprioritized. The on-going pandemic has severely affected the access to distribution channels as well as financing for film production. A situation that may undermine democracy, especially in regions with an unstable economic or political system.”
Comments says Mirja Wester, CEO of Göteborg Film Festival: “Film has an attractiveness for the audience and a cultural impact that gives it a key role in society. For more than 40 years Göteborg Film Festival has worked with the mission to strengthen the voices of filmmakers, highlighting films from all over the world. In an especially difficult time it is essential to give filmmakers additional support and enable more stories to be told and spread.”
Adds Camilla Larsson, Fund Manager, Göteborg Film Festival: “The festival effectively managed Göteborg International Film Festival Fund during more than ten years, in the beginning of the century, when we, with financing from SIDA (The Swedish Development Agency), supported 150 film projects from all over the world. It is of great value, at this specific moment, to be able to present a new initiative.”
“We will start the work off with opening for submissions for development and post-production support [on] May 10,” she continues. “The submissions will be handled by a group, consisting of both team members from Göteborg Film Festival and correspondents with their base in the four regions we have chosen to work with during the year.”
The second submission window will be in July 2021.
The festival adds how the new fund will be highlighted during Göteborg Film Festival 2022, “from the perspective of moving images as a tool for democracy and free speech.”
