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ESFUF at the 75th Berlinale
Two years after its launch, the European Solidarity Fund for Ukrainian Films returned to the Berlinale. On February 15th, an event took place at the Conference Lounge.
The event opened with a speech by Mr. Mykola Tochytskyi, Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, who provided his insights on cultural diplomacy with Ukraine in the field of cinema.
Members of the European Parliament then stressed the importance of European support to Ukraine: Ms. Emma Rafowicz, Vice-Chair of the Committee on Culture and Education, addressed the topic on stage. A speech from Mr. Marcos Ros Sempere, substitute member of the Committee on Culture and Education and of the Delegation to the EU-Ukraine Parliamentary Association Committee, followed.
Manon Duverger, ESFUF project manager, then presented the audience with a report on the fund’s achievements over the last two years.
The results of the fund’s latest call for projects for production support were announced by M. Christopher Peter Marcich, president of the European Film Agency Directors association, of which all the fund’s contributors are members.
Amoung the 21 films which received finalisation support from the fund, 11 have already circulated in major European film festivals: another striking example is Timestamp by Kateryna Gornostai, which received finalisation support in May 2024 and will premiere in the Berlinale’s official competition.
Development support, granted to 29 films in total, has enabled many films to complete their development. Some development beneficiaries have completed their production and are now finalised: that is the case for Special Operation (supported in development under the name War in Chornobyl), which will premiere in the Berlinale’s Forum Expanded section.
The report on ESFUF achievements was followed by a case study of one of the production support beneficiaries, the animation project Unholy Power. Co-produced between Ukraine, Germany and France, the film was presented by its director Roman Liubyi and its coproducers Andrii Kotliar (Babylon 13 Production, Ukraine), Felix Herrman (Benedetta Films, Germany) and Pauline Tran Van Lieu (Hutong Productions, France)
Aurélie Champagne, deputy director for legal and European affairs at the French CNC, then delivered the event’s closing remarks before announcing the European Solidarity Fund for Ukrainian Films’ renewal in 2025, for its third consecutive year.
The film is among the 8 projects which were eventually selected by the ESFUF jury for a total amount of 900 000 €. Among these were 3 documentaries, 3 fiction films and 2 animation projects. Notably, half of these films were directed or co-directed by women.
The supported projects are:
BLUE SWEATER WITH A YELLOW HOLE by Tetiana Khodakivska
Ukrainian production company: Pronto Film
Production company established in France : Girelle Production
Amount of the support: 90 000 €
HARDSUB by Novruz Hikmet
Ukrainian production company: Contemporary Ukrainian Cinema
Production company established in Germany: Plotlessfilm GbR
Amount of the support: 150 000 €
KAI by Oleh Sentsov
Ukrainian production company: AT Films
Production company established in Germany: Ma.ja.de. Fiction GmbH
Amount of the support: 150 000 €
PALINGENESION by Alina Gorlova, Yelizaveta Smith, Maksym Nakonechnyi, Simon Mozgovyi.
Ukrainian production company: Tabor LTD
Production company established in France: Les Valseurs Bordeaux
Amount of the support: 40 000 €
RED ZONE by Iryna Tsilyk
Ukrainian production company: Moon Man
Production company established in Luxembourg: a_BAHN
Amount of the support: 150 000 €
SCREAMING GIRL by Antonio Lukich
Ukrainian production company: Fore Films
Production company established in Ireland: Feline Films
Amount of the support: 150 000 €
THE ELF’S TOWER by Polina Kelm
Ukrainian production company: Magika Films
Production company established in Croatia: Restart
Amount of the support: 40 000 €
UNHOLY POWER by Roman Liubyi
Ukrainian production company: Babylon 13 Production
Production company established in Germany: Benedetta Films
Amount of the support: 130 000 €
Background
The European Solidarity Fund for Ukrainian Films is an initiative launched in February 2023 in Berlin. After having supported various actions for Ukraine at a national and European level (here), EFAD and its members wanted to unite forces to launch a dedicated support for Ukrainian filmmakers, to support the completion of films or the development of new projects, while fostering co-productions. The fund supported 49 Ukrainian projects in development and finalisation over the last two years. In the autumn of 2024, the fund evolved towards production support and has already supported 8 projects, raising the total number of ESFUF grants attributed to 57.