International co-productions "pivotal" to success of film industry

During the 'La via del cinema' workshop at the Balkan Film Festival in Rome, industry experts cited the importance of international co-productions to the continued success of the film industry

Eurimages' vice-director Enrico Vannucci highlighted the need for international co-productions as vital to its member organisations. 

He reminded audience members of the ways in which Eurimages supports co-productions. Eurimages has a 26-million-euro budget and offers three annual calls for submissions. In addition, Eurimages provides soft loans (to be repaid based on a film's revenue), and works towards developing and promoting co-productions.

Chris Marcich of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre referenced the high-end TV series Greater Adria, a co-production between Italy, Croatia and Germany scheduled for production in 2024, as a project which drew on Eurimages' support for its pilot. 

Co-created by Nebojša Taraba and Simona Nobile, Greater Adria is produced by Taraba for Croatia’s Drugi Plan, Peter Nadermann of Germany’s Nadcon Film and Marco de Angelis for Italy’s Fabula Pictures. 

Marcich also highlighted the need for efficient collaboration between the Italian film commissions and the Balkans’ national film centres for co-productions to be a success. 

Festival director Mario Bova envisioned the week-long event "could play a facilitator role as an ongoing forum for dialogue between Italy and the various Balkan states to raise awareness amongst those operating within the entire sector and to make best use of the funding coming from Europe on both a development and production level" (via Cineuropa).