The EU Film Industry in the Spotlight at the Venice International Film Festival

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The EU ﬁlm industry in the spotlight at the Venice International Film Festival

Five films which have been awarded EU funding are competing in the prestigious 72nd Venice International Film Festival between 2 and 9 September. The European Commission has invested around €260,000 through the Creative Europe MEDIA programme to support the development and distribution of these films, which are taking part in the Official Selection and Orizzonti competitions.

Venice Film Festival

Films in the Oﬃcial selection

Three EU-supported ﬁlms will be shown as world premieres in the Venezia 72 competition for feature ﬁlms:

Marguerite, 1921, a big castle not far from Paris. Marguerite, the owner, is affluent and devotes all of her time to her passion: music. Loosely based on the life of the American soprano Florence Foster Jenkins, who became famous between 1930 and 1940 thanks to her poor singing skills, the film is a French, Czech and Belgian co-production, directed by Xavier Giannoli. It stars Catherine Frot, André Marcon, Michel Fau, Christa Théret, Denis Mpunga, Sylvain Dieuaide. A Bigger Splash, this thriller feature the rock star Marianne Lane and Paul, her film director fiancé, who are on holiday in Pantelleria. The sudden visit of Harry, and his daughter Penelope, will drag all the characters into a whirlpool of passion and jealousy. A remake of the French detective film La piscine (1968), this is an Italian, French production starring Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Schoenaerts, Dakota Johnson, Corrado Guzzanti, directed by Luca Guadagnino. L’Hermine, the story starts the day before a trial: during the hearing, something extraordinary will happen and will change everything. Directed by Christian Vincent, this is a French production starring Fabrice Luchini and Sidse Babett Knudsen.

Films in the Orizzonti competition

Two EU-supported ﬁlms are in the Orizzonti competition, dedicated to ﬁlms that represent the latest aesthetic and expressive trends in international cinema:

Krigen (A War), directed by Tobias Lindholm is a Danish production. It stars Pilou Asbæk and Tuva Novotny. Taj Mahal, directed by Nicolas Saada stars Stacy Martin, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Gina McKee, Alba Rohrwacher. It is a Franco-Belgium production.

EU investment

The Commission's Digital Single Market Strategy aims to improve access to digital and audio-visual content. The EU will invest more than €100 million in the European ﬁlm and audio-visual industries throughout 2015 through the Creative Europe MEDIA programme.

Support for films running in this year's Venice International Film Festival has come from the Creative Europe - MEDIA development slate funding and the cinema automatic scheme. The slate funding scheme provides financing to companies for the costs of developing packages of film projects. The cinema automatic scheme provides access to a fund for companies who have successfully distributed European Films in the previous year, allowing them to reinvest this fund in the acquisition and distribution of new European films.

Since its creation in 1991, the MEDIA programme has invested in the training of more than 20,000 producers, ﬁlm distributors, directors, and screenwriters to help them adapt to new technologies. Each year, MEDIA supports around 2,000 European projects in ﬁlm, television, including series and other audio-visual works, which are distributed digitally in cinema, on television and through video on demand.

The European Film Forum

A European Film Forum event will take place during the festival, bringing together artists, producers, business leaders and political representatives to explore how cooperation can help the future of the European ﬁlm industry.

Boundaries are changing between visual arts, film and business. How to reinforce cross cultural and cross media dialogue to support the future of the European film industry and its talents? This question will be at the heart of the European Film Forum event "Cross Culture – a driver for a Creative Europe" on Saturday 5th September. This event is organised by La Biennale di Venezia and the European Commission. Two panels on short film as a driver of creativity, talent scouting and business and cross- overs from film to societal and economic change will gather artists, producers, business leaders and political representatives.

The European Film Forum provides a space for dialogue between policy makers and stakeholders at European Film Festivals and industry gatherings in order to help the European ﬁlm sector address the challenges and opportunities brought about by the digital revolution.

Other events at Venice supported by the European Commission include the gap ﬁnancing market (4-5/09/15) a co-production and a co-ﬁnancing market for European projects who have secured at least 70% of their budget and Art cinema = action + management, training cinema managers, operators and programmers in managing art house cinemas. Other towns and cities can take inspiration from Venice at a symposium on making the most of your city brand.