Dutch specialist distributor Contact Film Cinematheek will increase its number of acquisitions by up to three a year following its successful application for state funds from the Raad voor Cultuur. Adam Minns talks to Contact's Gerard Huisman.

Contact, which has previously handled an annual average of 8 films, will increase its slate with additional funds worth almost US$55,000 a year over the next four years. The Arnhem-based releasing outfit is The Netherland's third partly state-funded distributor along with Cinemien and IAF/NFM.

Contact's Gerard Huisman reaffirmed the Arnhem-based distributor's commitment to specialist films. "Many distributors release a film, it doesn't do that well after two weeks, so they say: 'Forget it, release the next one.' We work on advertising, on publicity, and we take care and time with each of our films."

Retrospective

Huisman also highlighted Contact's annual, nation-wide retrospective of an independent filmmaker as part of this commitment to the arthouse sector. He announced Contact would follow this year's review of Michelangelo Antonioni's films by releasing the complete works of Italian neo-realist Pietro Germi late this year or early 1998.

But he anticipated a potential delay in acquiring rights to Germi's films from Cinecitta, following the Italian giant's recent privatisation. With ownership now dispersed amongst companies as far afield as the UK's Rank Group, he remains unsure exactly who owns each of the 15 Germi films he intends to screen. *