Aiming to promote audiovisual co-production between Chile and Germany, ProChile’s office in Germany hosted a networking event during the European Film Market (EFM), held in Berlin from February 16 to 22.
The meeting took place last February 20 in the FFA-Filmförderungsanstalt (Fondo de Fomento Audiovisual alemán), where twenty production companies houses from both countries participated. The FFA (German Financing Fund) and the Governmental Administration of Culture of the European country supported the event.
The meeting happened to celebrate the implementation in November of 2022 of the co-production agreement between both countries, which seeks to facilitate shootings between Chilean and German production company houses.
The agreement has benefits -among others- such as that production company houses can access financing funds in both countries and have tax and tariff benefits reducing production costs and broadening the audiovisual offer.
«We are thrilled with this event. The idea is that Chilean and German producers meet each other and can work on projects together. This co-production agreement is a unique opportunity to strengthen cultural ties between both countries, and we hope that becomes a starting point for a fruitful collaboration that will lead to great projects in the future,» said Germán Vergara, Commercial Director of ProChile in Berlin.
Positive reaction from authorities
The networking meeting counted the participation of Chilean and German representatives, who introduced essential points regarding the agreement.
Magdalena Atria, Chilean Ambassador in Germany, hopes that this agreement, like the other co-production agreements, will mean an increase in Chilean productions and the internationalization of the Chilean film industry. In addition, she believes that both countries will work even closer together because of the «experiences we have shared and which unite us in memory, remembrance and how we look at life and the future. These could be fruitful co-productions and useful for the development of democracy and society.»
To Gabriela Sandoval, President of the Chilean Film and Television Producers Association, this agreement is very important since «these meetings, especially here at the Berlinale, allow for much closer one-on-one contact, broadening the networks of all the producers who are here as well as the producers who come from Chile.»
Peter Dinges, President of the German Audiovisual Promotion Fund, commented that this type of agreement promotes «an attraction of different cultures, of different points of view despite the geographical distance, which can be seen in the number of co-productions between the two countries. Producers and filmmakers on both sides are very motivated. They are pushing us to move forward and cooperate with each other.»
In addition to this event, Chile actively participated in the Berlinale and 2023 EFM, where it sought to strengthen the presence of Chilean cinema in the international market. For more information, check this link.
Co-production of «Dear Eszter»
The first results of this agreement are already in sight: the film «Dear Ezter,» by Chilean producer María Elena Wood, who also presented in the «Producers Pitching Their Projects» section at the EFM, benefited from this agreement and will be a Chilean-German co-production. The German production company joining the film will be Bastian Griese’s MMC Studio, the production house behind the Oscar-nominated movie «Amelie.»
Source: prochile.gob.cl
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