74th Berlinale

The European solidarity fund for Ukrainian films (ESFUF) was launched precisely a year ago during the 73rd Berlinale. In its first year, two calls were issued – one per semester – and 29 projects were supported.

Two years after the full-scale invasion in Ukraine and ten years after the beginning of the war, ESFUF members have collectively agreed to renew it for another year.

In 2024, the renewed Fund welcomes three new members among its contributors: the National Film Institute Hungary, the National Film Centre of Latvia and the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts of Spain. This unique solidarity action now relies on the collaboration and financial contributions from eighteen European ministries and national film funds, members of the EFAD association, as well as the association itself:

• France:  Centre national du cinema et de l’image animée (coordinator), 
• Belgium: Cinema and audiovisual centre of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation , 
• Croatia: Croatian Audiovisual Centre, 
• Denmark: Danish Film Institute, 
• Estonia: Estonian Film Institute; 
• Germany: Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media 
• Greece: Greek Film Centre, 
• Hungary: National Film Institute Hungary,
• Ireland: Screen Ireland, 
• Italy: Ministry of Culture, 
• Latvia: National Film Centre of Latvia, 
• Lithuania:  Lithuanian Film Centre, 
• Luxembourg: Film Fund Luxembourg, 
• Netherlands: Netherlands Film Fund, 
• Norway: Norwegian Film Centre, 
• Portugal: Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual, 
• Spain: Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts, 
• United Kingdom: UK Global Screen Fund – British Film Institute, 
• EFAD, the European Film Agency Directors association

Thanks to the renewed trust of its members, ESFUF budget has now risen to 1.5M€. These extra 300 000€ will enable co-productions between Ukrainian production companies and companies established in contributing countries to be further supported. The submitted projects will be selected by a jury of seven independent experts.

This semester, two separate calls are launched: one for development support and one for finalisation support:

• The finalisation support call will be open from February 21^st until March 15^th
• The development support call will be open from February 21^st until April 5^th

More information on our website:  https://esfuf.eu/

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 29 Ukrainian projects in 2023.

The fund was made possible thanks to the involvement and contribution of: