Western Norway Film Commission

Norway will become the 40th country to adjust to the Euoprean Council's regulations for financing European co-productions. The ratification by the Norwegian government of the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production is around the corner. "This means it could happen by August or, hopefully, before our elections on September 14," says Nina Refseth, Norwegian Film Institute chief executive. "Joining the European Co-production Convention will make a huge different for Norwegian producers. So far, it's been a problem for them to find production partners in Europe outside the Nordic region. With the Convention in place, it will be much easier and it will make Norwegian producers more attractive for minority co-productions."

Says Refseth to Screen: "For Norwegian filmmakers, the endorsement of the convention will be an opening to the international markets. It will be much simpler for them to co-produce with other countries, but also much simpler for foreign producers to co-produce with Norway."

States Cineuropa: The Norwegian government made it clear it would soon commit to the Council of Europe's Film Treaty by sending a letter of intent to the production company 4 ½ , who needed the document to proceed with Marius Holst's upcoming €5m film Bastoy, co-produced with Swedish, Polish, and French partners. The NFI's focus this year in Cannes on Norwegian Producers was one way to tell the rest of Europe that Norway will soon be the 40th country to join the Convention club. Sweden and Denmark joined in 1994, Finland in 1995 and Iceland in 1997.

This is exciting news for international producers looking to co-produce with Norway, and exciting news for Norwegian producers who want their films to travel better. The European Audiovisual Observatory recently released a study, "The circulation of European co-productions in Europe 2001-2007", that indicates that European co-productions travel better and earn more admissions than national films. European co-productions earn on average 2.7 times as many admissions as their national peers. The data sample comprises more than 5400 films with theatrical release between 2001 and 2007 in 20 selected European markets.