At the occasion of the Cannes International Film Festival, it was announced that ESFUF will be reinforced by the contributions of two new EFAD members, the Norwegian Film Institute and the British Film Institute's UK Global Screen Fund bringing the number of contributing countries to 15.

Norway

The Norwegian Film Institute has, with additional funding suggested by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Equality to be formally adopted in Parliament in June, extended support for Ukranian filmmakers through the ESFUF

Kjersti Mo, CEO, NFI said: “Telling stories through film is one of the most powerful ways there are to convey a nation`s culture and to keep the country together through common experiences. This is especially important for a country in crisis, both for the country and its inhabitants but also for the outside world to learn what is happening and inspire action. We stand with our European partners in supporting Ukranian filmmakers and are proud to support this endevour.”

The United Kingdom

The UK Global Screen Fund (UKGSF), financed by the UK Government’s Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) and administered by the BFI, has extended support to Ukrainian Filmmakers through the ESFUF.

Ben Roberts, CEO, BFI said: “The role of filmmakers in telling stories and bringing perspectives that inspire people the world over has never been more important or urgent than it is today. We stand with our partners in Europe in supporting Ukrainian filmmakers through the UK Global Screen Fund that we manage on behalf of the UK Government.”

Their precious contributions will allow more projects to be supported in the second round of selection, which will be launched this summer.

In the same occasion, the results of the first selection round of the European Solidarity Fund for Ukrainian Films were announced by the Jury President, Marianne Slot. A total of 11 projects for a global amount of 523 000 € will receive support to development and finalization. The list of the selected projects is available on the ESFUF website, here.

Background
ESFUF, launched in Berlin 2023, is an initiative proposed by the CNC to the other EFAD members during the Cannes General Assembly in May 2022. After having supported various other actions for Ukraine at national and European level, EFAD and its members wanted to unite forces to launch a dedicated support for Ukrainian filmmakers, to help them completing their films or developing new projects, while fostering co-productions. With an initial budget of one million euros, it aims at financing Ukrainian cinematographic works at development and finalization stages, supporting projects selected by a jury of five independent experts, through two calls for projects launched in 2023.