Collective Actions; Funding Wins<\/p>\n
At CPH:DOX, there was, however, a promising and perhaps more viable structural collaboration that emerged. The Nordic countries\u2019 five major public broadcasters (SVT, NRK, DR, Yle, and R\u00daV) and their national film institutes (Danish Film Institute, Swedish Film Institute, Norwegian Film Institute, Icelandic Film Centre, and Finnish Film Foundation) announced the creation of a new joint open call for the\u00a0Nordisk Film & TV Fond<\/a> in response to \u201cincreased competition from global platforms\u201d and to \u201cprovide opportunities for faster financing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think there is real power in joining forces,\u201d says Chang, referring to the Nordisk partnership and what it signifies. \u201cNetflix is international, so why we can\u2019t we aggregate our viewing numbers; why we can\u2019t we aggregate our money?\u201d<\/p>\n In her new role as an advocate, Chang believes \u201cas a collective, we have to fight back against all these issues,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Pointing to one recent success by the Documentary Film Council, Chang notes their help in lobbying the BFI\u2019s Global Screen Fund to increase its budget from \u00a37 million to over \u00a318 million per year. \u201cThat\u2019s the kind of change that we can do,\u201d she says. \u201cThere is power in filmmakers having a voice, and we collectively have the clout and influence to have a say in how things are funded, whether it\u2019s broadcasters or existing funds or raising the level of funding for documentary filmmakers.\u201d<\/p>\n CPH:DOX also has its own role to play. As a crucial meeting point for the documentary industry, it has become a place where alliances\u2014and even money\u2014is exchanged for the types of creative documentaries that are at risk. Attending producers cited such potential significant new sources of money in the halls of CPH:DOX, including the presence of Harriet Gugenheim\u2019s Placeholder Films and Alex Simon, Director of Storytelling Partnerships from the Emerson Collective, founded by Laurene Powell Jobs.<\/p>\n Additionally, a range of modest, but by no means insignificant monetary\u00a0awards<\/a> were given out for projects in development, such as \u20ac30,000 and \u20ac20,000, respectively, from Eurimages for new projects by doc auteurs Asmae El Moudir (The Mother of All Lies<\/a>) and V\u00e9r\u00e9na Paravel (Leviathan), as well as a US$25,000 prize from Sandbox Films for\u00a0Nobody Compares director Karthryn Ferguson\u2019s upcoming\u00a0Matrescence.\u00a0<\/p>\n