Print this page
14-01-2009

PFI funds more international co-productions

By Katarzyna Grynienko
    The first session of the Polish Film Institute in 2009 resulted in additional funding for four international co-productions involving producers from Poland.
    PFI started the year by assigning money in the category "Supporting minority ventures taken on by Polish producers," which in practice means co-financing international projects with Polish financial or artistic input. PFI's interest is in helping local companies establish themselves in the foreign market.

    According to PFI, (www.pisf.pl) four major international productions will be supported by PFI. The highest amount of 1.6 million PLN (€383,000) of funding was given to Golghota, a UK/Polish feature about World War II directed by John Irvin, with a total budget of €7 million. The Polish producer involved in this production is WF Czołówka (www.czolowka.com.pl).

    During this session PFI decided to back the long awaited new Lars von Trier film Antichrist. The Polish branch of Zentropa International (www.zentropa.dk), represented by the director Małgorzata Szumowska, recieved 1 million PLN (€ 239,000) of funding to complement the €7.7 million budget. Another big title supported by the Polish Film Institute is City Island, directed by Raymond De Fellitta, a Polish/USA co-production with a dominant input from the Polish producing company Gremi Film Production (www.gremifilm.pl). The movie is currently in the post-production stage and was issued a 460,000 PLN (€110,000) loan from PFI for further development.

    310,000 PLN (€74,000) was assigned to one documentary project, The Vodka Factory. The film about female workers at a Polish bevarage factory is directed by Jerzy Śladkowski and will be realized in co-production between Polish PTV (www.tvp.pl) and Swedish Hysteria Film AB (www.hysteriafilm.se) with a total budget of €328,000.