News

Both the ÖFI+ scheme for local films and the Fisa+ scheme for international shoots are being significantly enhanced.

Austrian producers have welcomed the government’s plans to increase the overall budget for the Fisa+ and ÖFI+ film and TV incentive schemes to more than €130m in 2024, to support both local production and to attract international film and TV production shoots.

The ÖFI+ scheme, which is administered by the Austrian Film Institute (ÖFI) as an extension of its funding portfolio, supports national Austrian productions and Austrian majority or minority co-productions, is set to see its budget increase by €24.4m from the...

Fisa+ and ÖFI+ schemes have paid out €40m in grants since launch in January.

Austria’s new film and TV incentive schemes Fisa+ and ÖFI+ have already surpassed expectations since being introduced at the beginning of this year, with more than €40m paid out in grants and over €120m generated as “Austrian spend”.

The Fisa+ and ÖFI schemes offer a 30% grant on Austrian spend plus a 5% green filming bonus, with the maximum amount paid per project pegged at €5m for films and €7.5m for series.

ÖFI+ grants

Producer Alexander Dumreicher-Ivanceanu, chairman of trade association Film & Music Austria, told Screen that...

Philippe Ramos’ Mad Love was awarded the top prize at the Montreal World Film Festival.

The Montreal World Film Festival (Aug 27 - Sept 7) has revealed the award winners for its 2015 edition.

Philippe Ramos’ Mad Love took the top prize, the grand prize of the Americas, while the best director prize was shared between Mikko Kuparinen for 2 Nights Till Morning and Georgi Balabanov for The Petrov File.

Alongside its main awards, the festival presented British producer Lord Puttname with a special grand prize of the Americas for his “exceptional contribution to the world of cinema”.

Full list:

Competition awards:

Grand Prize of the Americas: Mad Love, dir. Philippe Ramos (France)Special Grand Jury Award: Misafir (The Visitor/La Visiteuse), dir. Mehmet Eryilmaz (Turkey)Best director: 2 nights til morning, dir. Mikko Kuparinen (Finland / Luthania) and The Petrov File (Le Dossier Petrov), dir. Georgi Balabanov (Bulgaria / Germany)Best Actress: Malin Buska for The Girl King, dir. [link...

Santa Barbara, CA – As the 28th Santa Barbara International Film festival wrapped 11 days of screenings, panels and awards events on Sunday, Sbiff executive director Roger Durling and programming director Michael Albright announced the fest awards winners at an invitation-only brunch ceremony. (Daniel Day-Lewis Tribute coverage here.) The top Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema (which includes a $60,000 camera package) went to “Babygirl,” about a Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx trying to adjust to her mother’s unsavory new boyfriend. Gerhard Ertl and Sabine Hiebler’s “Coming of Age” from Austria won the Best International Film Award for its depiction of a blossoming relationship between two seniors. “More Than Honey” by Markus Imhoof took the Best Documentary Film Award for its compelling perspective on the global decline of crucial honeybee populations. The full festival press release follows below – check...

Chicago – The 48th Chicago International Film Festival has released the first 22 titles in its lineup to be screened from Thursday, October 11th, through Thursday, October 25th. Over 150 films from more than 50 countries are expected to be presented at this year’s festival.

One of the most buzzed-about titles on the roster is Ben Lewin’s “The Sessions,” which stars John Hawkes as a 36-year-old man in an iron lung who decides to lose his virginity by hiring a sex surrogate (Helen Hunt) with the help of his priest (William H. Macy). The film was a big hit at Sundance and received the Audience Award as well as the Special Jury Prize for ensemble acting. Another wildly anticipated picture is Leos Carax’s “Holy Motors,” which reportedly garnered the most divisive yet impassioned reactions of any selection at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Earning comparisons to the work of David Lynch,...