Last week, the Oslo-based agency Nordisk Film & TV Fond published its 2020 annual report. The figures made available by the organisation give interesting insights into the current state of the region’s audiovisual sector and that of the body itself. Despite the hardship caused by the health crisis, the agency managed to add three new partners – namely, Norway’s leading web-TV documentary specialist, VGTV, as well as popular Nordic streaming services Viaplay (belonging to NENT Group) and C More Entertainment. The organisation’s current funding sources are the Nordic Council of Ministers, five Nordic film institutes, and 16 Nordic TV and OTT companies.

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Last year, the total amount of funding for production, distribution and other special initiatives increased by 15% over 2019 figures, topping 121.05 million Norwegian crowns (approximately €12 million). In detail, the fund saw a 27% increase in TV drama applications compared to 2019 figures, and 21 series received backing (up six from 2019). The largest grant (3.7 million Norwegian crowns/€365,000) was allocated to Lars von Trier’s third instalment in his cult series The Kingdom. Other big bursaries were awarded to Blackport, Countrymen, Fury, Made in Oslo, Snow Angels, Trom, Max Anger - With One Eye Open and White Sands.

Meanwhile, the agency backed 24 feature-length fiction projects in 2020 (down three from 2019). The bursary of the largest magnitude was granted to Gunnar Vikene’s War Sailor, staged by Mer Film (4 million Norwegian crowns/€395,000). Other projects that received over 3 million Norwegian crowns (€297,000) include Rasmus A Sivertsen’s animated flick When the Robbers Came to Cardamom Town, John Andreas Andersen’s disaster movie The North Sea [+leggi anche:
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scheda film]. Furthermore, documentaries and children’s and youth films recorded a sharp increase in funding. In 2020, the body backed 20 documentaries (as against 13 in 2019) and 46 youth-orientated projects (as against 36 in 2019).

Concerning gender equality, men dominated the directing posts in fiction features (18 men versus six women) and documentaries (16 men versus six women and two marked as “multi”, where the function was shared by people of different genders). TV dramas recorded an almost equal split (ten women and 11 men). As a consequence of the coronavirus crisis, distribution and dubbing support fell from 9.38 million Norwegian crowns in 2019 (€927,000) to 6.5 million Norwegian crowns (€642,000) in 2020. Moreover, only 12 festivals and industry events benefited from the agency’s grants (eight fewer than in 2019).

In the document’s preface, the organisation’s CEO, Liselott Forsman, hopes for a better year for the whole sector: “In 2021, our industry will keep reflecting on how many events we really need to travel to and how, financially, we could enable shooting at home when the story does not require travelling. Once we can all meet again, every real-life contact will have new value. Future Nordic audiovisual works will surely help us understand the impact of this trying global experience on a deeper level. Keep staying safe and being inspired!”

For further information, you can access the full report here.