The Norwegian international co-production fund greenlights five features and three documentaries from 51 applications.Norway’s Sørfond – an international co-production fund administered by the Norwegian Film Institute with the Films from the South Foundation on Norwegian state funding – has during the last seven years supported 41 projects, and two of them have been selected for the Cannes International Film Festival (17-28 May). At the same time the fund has announced it will back eight new projects.

“We are proud of being involved with the Sørfond, which is very important to the industry, because it can sometimes be difficult to get this kind of films financed – and on top of it the results of its work are performing great at the international showcases,” said the institute’s executive director-development and production Sveinung Golimo, a former producer with Filmkameratene, who has been head of the department since 2014.

In Cannes Tunesian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s Beauty and the Dog (Aala kaf ifrit), which is co-produced by Norway’s Integralfilm (Nefise Özkal Lorentzen) and Hedda Foundation (Jørgen Lorentzen), will unspool in Un Certain Regard, and Venezuelan director Gustavo Rondón Córdova’s La Familia (co-produced by Filminvest Midt-Norge/DHF’s Dag Hoel) which will be on show in the Critics Week.

This year’s Sørfond jury (Linn Jeanethe Kyed and Hanne Myren/Norway, Karim Aïnouz/Brazil) considered 51 applications before sharing €0.4 million among five features and three documentaries. “The projects we awarded reflects our diverse world in its variety of themes, forms, genres, countries and professionals, and we urge all the filmmakers to persevere in their cinematic forays. ” explained the jury.

New features

Contactee. Dir: Marité Ugás. Prod: Sudaca Films (Peru). Norwegian Co-producer: Filminvest Midt-Norge/DHF (Dag Hoel)

Malambo King. Dir: Juan Pablo Félix. Prod: Utopica Group (Argentina). Norwegian co-producer: Norsk Filmproduksjon (Hilde Berg)

Overgod. Dir: Gabriel Mascaro. Prod: Desvia Produções-Rachel Ellis (Brazil). Norwegian co-producer: Mer Film (Maria Ekerhovd)

Rafiki. Dir: Wanuri Kahiu. Prod: Big World Cinema CC (South-Africa, Kenya). Norwegian co-producer: Ape & Bjørn (Ruben Thorkildsen, Verona Meier)

The River: Aslan and His Brothers. Dir/Prod: Emir Baigazin (Kazakhstan). Norwegian co-producer: Norsk Filmproduksjon (Hilde Berg)

New documentaries

Amal. Dir: Mohamed Siam. Prods: Abbout Productions, Artkhana (Egypt/Lebanon). Norwegian co-producer: Barentsfilm (Ingrid Lill Høgtun)

Bullet Catcher. Dirs: Ruslan Batutskyi and Lesya Kalynska. Prod: Batytskyi Production (Ukraine). Norwegian co-producer: Volt Film (Jonathan Borge Lie)
 

Off Side in Khartoum. Dir: Marwa Zein. Prod: ORE Productions (Sudan). Norwegian co-producer: Stray Dog Productions (Henrik Underbjerg)Dog At the same time the fund has announced it will back eight new projects. Read more