When we think of cinema, we usually think of Hollywood. But some of the most creative films have been made on a shoestring, by directors and producers hardly known outside their own country – and often not in English.

The World Cinema Fund (WCF) was set up in 2004 to encourage the co-production of innovative feature films and documentaries in a swathe of countries outside North America and northern Europe that lack a strong production infrastructure.

Since 2014 the World Cinema Fund Europe, with the support of the Creative Europe programme, has been expanding the work of WCF, while strengthening Europe’s presence in global cinema production, helping to promote a stronger Europe in the world.

Some countries in the WCF regions may lack the synergy and resources to get home-grown cinema off the ground – or bring their films to a wider audience. Other countries may already have a vibrant cinema tradition, but it is stifled by a hostile political climate.

WCF Europe brings new energy and resources into this field by supporting EU production companies from countries with little international production experience. In this way they can enter into co-production deals with film makers in WCF countries who have films already at an advanced stage of production. These co-productions also inject a vibrant and much-needed cultural diversity into global cinema.

WCF Europe also helps the films that it supports to reach new audiences, for example by promoting opportunities for cross-border distribution. The annual Berlinale festival in Berlin, with its programme of screenings, talks and workshops, has become a key event for all those involved in the film industry to meet and mingle, hatch new projects and promote those already in progress, or recently completed.

 

WCF support provided the project with technical and artistic tools. It was a luxury to have the space and time to rethink who our audience is and to develop strategies to reach them.

Diego Dubcovsky and Lucía Chavarriproducers of Las Mil y Una, Varsovia Films Argentina) directed by Clarissa Navas.