Fourteen film and TV projects have received a combined £2.2m in funding through the latest round of international co-production funding from the UK Global Screen Fund (GSF).
The biggest award of £250,000 has been given to Iceland-Ireland-UK-Belgium feature The Damned, which will shoot early next year. Protagonist Pictures is selling and executive producing the film.
Individual awards range between £250,000 to £95,000,
Scroll down for the full list.
Set on a remote fishing outpost in the 19th century, the psychological horror is written by Jamie Hannigan, will be directed by Icelandic-UK director Thordur Palsson, and will star Odessa Young, who starred in Mothering Sunday.
Emilie Jouffroy and Kamilla Kristiane Hodol of the UK’s Elation Pictures will co-produce the title with John Keville and Conor Barry of Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Pictures, Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson and Anton Mani Svansson of Iceland’s Join Motion Pictures, and Benoit Roland of Belgium’s Wrong Men.
Projects to receive £200,000 in GSF funding are 3D and hand-painted animation feature A Winter’s Journey; feature The End from The Act Of Killing director Joshua Oppenheimer starring Tilda Swinton and George Mackay; and Hugo Keijzer’s feature The Occupant starring Ella Balinska, for which Altitude is handling world sales.
Further titles include Gerald Conn’s Heart Of Darkness, which claims to be the world’s first sand animation feature and is adapted from Joseph Conrad’s novella; and Dalton’s Dream, a TV documentary about a young queer musician from rural Jamaica, which Dogwoof is producing and selling.
UK GSF head Denitsa Yordanova said the fund supports “a diverse range of companies from across the UK, co-producing with an exciting mix of international territories. “Spanning film and television across documentary, animation and fiction, each collaboration demonstrates global ambition and potential to reach new audiences.”
The GSF was launched in April 2021, and runs as part of the British Film Institute (BFI). “[The fund] was created at just the right time for us, providing co-production funding which might otherwise have been challenging to raise out of the UK,” said Hodol. “Their support was critical in getting our film across the line.”
German-UK-Ukraine TV documentary co-production Ukranian Storybox – A Woman’s War has received £109,000.
Director and producer David Belton of the UK’s Yard 44 said, “Having the BFI’s backing is a real morale boost to a documentary project we feel so passionate about. Working with our Ukrainian and German co-producers, the award is an incredibly valuable endorsement for international co-productions, encouraging us to seek partnerships, share ideas and make films that have integrity and value to audiences in the UK and globally.”
The fund is financed through the UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
The GSF also offers international distribution funding for both film sales and prints and advertising support; it is hosting a P&A informational webinar on November 25.
UK GSF latest international co-production awards
The Damned (Ice-Ire-UK-Bel) dir. Thordur Palsson, wri. Jamie Hannigan - £250,000
Prods. Emilie Jouffroy, Kamilla Kristiane Hodol – Elation Pictures; John Keville, Conor Barry – Wild Atlantic Pictures; Gudmundur Arnar Gudmunsson, Anton Mani Svansson – Join Motion Pictures; Benoit Roland – Wrong Men
Sales: Protagonist Pictures
A Winter’s Journey (Ger-Pol-Bel-Fr-UK) dir. Alex Helfrecht - £200,000
Prods. Jorg Tittel – Oiffy; Richard Mansell; Reinhard Brunding – Pandora Film; Hugh Welchman – BreakThru Films; Benoit Roland – Wrong Men North; Alexis Perrin – Rumble Fish
Sales: Sony Pictures Classics; international - mk2 Films
The End (Den-Ger-Ire-It-UK) dir. Joshua Oppenheimer - £200,000
Prods. Tracy O’Riordan – Moonspun Films; Signe Byrge Sorensen – Final Cut For Real; Viola Fugen, Michael Weber – The Match Factory; Conor Barry – Wild Atlantic Pictures; Flaminio Zadra – Dorje Film
Sales: The Match Factory
The Occupant (Neth-UK-Geo) dir. Hugo Keijzer - £200,000
Prods. Jay Taylor, Kwesi Dickson – Electric Shadow Company; Raymond van der Kaaij – Revolver Amsterdam BV; Lasha Khalvashi – Studio Artizm
Sales: Altitude
Badjelly (NZ-Ire-UK) - £180,000 – TV series
Prods. Andrew Baker – Cantilever Media; Simon Ward – Mukpuddy; Gary Timpson – Kavaleer Productions
Freud’s Last Session (UK-Ire) dir. Matthew Brown - £180,000
Prods. Meg Thomson, Hannah Leader; Tristan Orpen Lynch, Aoife O’Sullivan – Subotica Operations; Rick Nicita, Alan Greisman
Sales: West End Films, CAA Media Finance
Keeping It Up (UK-Fr) dir. Stephen Bennett - £180,000 – TV documentary
Prods. Alan Clements – Two Rivers; Arnaud Xainte – Illegitime-Defense
My Driver And I (Saudi-UK) dir. Ahd Kamel - £175,000
Prods. Georgie Paget, Thembisa Cochrane – Caspian Films; Hani Farsi – Corniche Pictures; Millimeter Productions
Dalton’s Dream (UK-US) dirs. Kim Longinotto, Franky Murray Brown - £121,000 – TV documentary
Prods. Lorine Plagnol – Sungazer; Dogwoof; David France – Ninety Thousand Words; Derren Lawford – Dare Pictures; Kevin Jennings
Sales: Dogwoof
Heart Of Darkness (Pol-Bel-UK) dir. Gerald Conn - £120,000
Prods. Gerald Conn, Richard Miller – Gritty Realism Productions; Stephane Quinet – Artemis Productions
Sales: Celsius Entertainment
The Lecture (Pol-Lux-UK-Cze) dir. Kasia Adamik - £120,000
Prods. Sam Taylor – FAME – Film and Music Entertainment; Sarka Cimbalova – Marlene Film Productions; Olga Chajdas – Wild Mouse Production; Katarzyna Ozga, Nicolas Steil – Iris Productions
Ukrainian Storybox – A Woman’s War (Ger-UK-Ukr) dir. David Belton - £109,000 – TV documentary
Prods. David Belton – Yard 44; Regina Bouchehri, Gunnar Dedio – Looks Filmproduktionen; Roman Martyknenko – MMD Pro
Leonora In The Morning Light (Ger-Mex-Rom-UK) – dir. Thor Klein - £100,000
Prods. James Heath – Mallinson Television Productions; Skye Films; dragonfly films; Meli Melo Cultura & Piano; Digital Cube
Sales: IndieSales
Eno (UK-US) dir. Gary Hustwit - £95,000
Prods. Natasha Dack Ojumu, Nikki Parrott – Tigerlily Two; Gary Hustwit, Jessica Edwards – Film First Corp
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