After more than two years of legislative limbo, the new Brazil-Germany Co-Production Agreement has finally been approved by both houses in Brazil's National Congress and has now come into force.

The new accord had been signed by Brazil's Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil and Germany's then State Minister of Culture Christina Weiss during the Berlinale in 2005. Films co-produced by German and Brazilian companies under the auspices of the treaty would qualify as 'national films' and consequently have access to reciprocal benefits such as the German public funds as well as equivalent sources in Brazil.

A co-production under the new treaty will require at least 20% involvement from both the Brazilian and German parties in the financial, artistic, performing, and technical participation of a film's production.

The original treaty from 1974 - which required at least 30% participation by both Brazilian and German production partners - had still applied while Brazil's national film body Agencia Nacional do Cinema (ANCINE) waited for final ratification from its government.

Examples of recent co-productions in the past two years included Karim Anouz's Suely In The Sky (O Ceu De Suely) which was produced by VideoFilmes with Germany's Shotgun Pictures, and Kiko Goifman's Acts Of Men (Atos Dos Homens) by Plateau Producoes & Paleo TV with Germany's Mil Colores Media and Cachoeira Films.

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