TheRotterdam Film Festival will be the stage for the launch of The Netherlandsnewest sales company, SND Films.

The companywas originally founded in 1994 with the name Sydney Neter Distribution as aseller of shorts, classical music programming and documentaries, but is nowmaking a move into theatrical features. Aware of the tough conditions beingsuffered by indie sales outfits elsewhere in Europe, SND's marketing chiefFemke-Anna Broere says: "this is an excellent time to launch. After theirrecent Oscar successes the world is more open to Dutch films. Secondly, Dutchproducers are becoming increasingly commercial in their approach."

SND kicksoff its feature slate with Eddy Terstall's Rent-A-Friend,a romantic comedy about money produced by Jordaan Film and FuWorks. The twocompanies are co-founders of A-Lab, an ambitious co-operative of five productionhouses, which have signed SND as their international sales representative. Rent-A-Friend, which premieres inRotterdam, will be released in The Netherlands by A-Film in November.

Also onSND's roster is Terstall's previous effort BasedOn The Novel (De Boekverfilming), which will screen at next month'sEuropean Film Market in Berlin, and pre-sales of thriller The Nirvana Factory.

London-set Nirvana, which is being produced byIjswater Films and will shoot in late summer, will be the first picturefinanced through a fund being set up by SND and tax lawyers Vink &Partners. The fund, structured as a limited partnership, will make use of TheNetherlands' increasingly generous tax incentives and allow SND to makecommitments to films at an early stage in the production cycle.