Brazilian Film Agency opens applications for co-production grant

The National Film Agency (ANCINE) is inviting applications for a grant to support Brazil-Italy film co-productions until May 4.

In the third edition of the initiative launched on March 19, ANCINE will provide 160,000 euros ($175,000) to support six projects with potential to become co-productions between the two countries. Three of them will be selected by ANCINE and the other three will be chosen by Italy's Direzione Generale per il Cinema. Applications in Brazil are available free of charge from www.ancine.gov.br.

The collaboration with Italy is one of a number of initiatives to support international co-productions that ANCINE is launching this year with a view to increasing market presence of Brazilian films abroad. There are other upcoming initiatives with Argentina, Portugal and Uruguay in collaboration with the national film agencies of these countries.

Also beginning in May, a $1.6 million fund will be made available to support co-productions with 19 Latin American countries, as part of a program called “Brasil de Todas as Telas” (“Brazil On Screens Everywhere”, in a rough translation). Unlike the bilateral co-productions, there will be no set application dates – the projects submitted to ANCINE will be reviewed on an ongoing basis as they come in. Under the name Chamada Pública Prodecine 06/Coprodução América Latina, the grant will help fund projects in which Brazilian producers have a minority stake.

In this funding model, selected fiction and animation projects will be awarded up to $80,000. For documentaries, the grant can get up to $56,000. Eligible co-producing countries include Argentina, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

According to ANCINE executive director Manoel Rangel, these initiatives are at the core of Brazil's strategy to promote its films internationally. “Partnerships between Brazilian producers and other countries help develop our talents and pave the way for broader distribution of Brazilian films abroad,” he said.

Translated by Mayra Borges