Kino - german films

EXPORT-UNION: A PROFILE
The Export-Union of German Cinema is the national information and
advisory center for the promotion of German films worldwide. It was
established in 1954 as the ”umbrella“ association for the Association
of German Feature Film Producers, the Association of New German
Feature Film Producers and the Association of German Film
Exporters, and operates today in the legal form of a limited company.
Shareholders in the limited company are the Association of
German Feature Film Producers, the Association of New German
Feature Film Producers, the Association of German Film Exporters
and the German Federal Film Board (FFA).
The members of the advisory board of the Export-Union of
German Cinema are: Rolf Baehr, Antonio Exacoustos Jr., Alfred
Huermer (chairman), and Michael Weber.
The Export-Union itself has ten permanent staff members:
• Christian Dorsch, managing director
• Andrea Rings, assistant to the managing director
• Mariette Rissenbeek, PR manager
• Cornelia Klimkeit, PR assistant
• Stephanie Weiss, project manager
• Angela Hawkins, publications editor
• Nicole Kaufmann, project coordinator
• Martin Scheuring, project coordinator
• Petra Bader, office manager
• Ernst Schrottenloher, accounts
In addition, the Export-Union shares foreign representatives
in nine countries with the German Federal Film Board (FFA),
(cf. page 55).
The Export-Union’s budget of presently approx. €3.1 million
(including projects, administration, foreign representatives) comes
from film export levies, the office of the Federal Government
Commissioner for Culture and the Media, and the FFA. In addition,
the seven main economic film funds (Filmboard Berlin-
Brandenburg, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, FilmFoerderung Hamburg,
Filmstiftung NRW, Medien- and Filmgesellschaft Baden-
Wuerttemberg, Mitteldeutsche Medienfoerderung, and Nordmedia)
have made a financial contribution, currently amounting to €0.25 million,
towards the work of the Export-Union. In 1997, the Export-
Union and five large economic film funds founded an advisory
committee whose goal is the ”concentration of efforts for the promotion
of German film abroad“ (constitution).
The Export-Union is a founding member of the European Film
Promotion, an amalgamation of twenty national film-PR agencies
(Unifrance, Swiss Films, Italia Cinema, Holland Film, among others)
with similar responsibilities to those of the Export-Union. The organization,
with its headquarters in Hamburg, aims to develop and realize
joint projects for the presentation of European films on an international
level.
EXPORT-UNION’S RANGE OF ACTIVITIES:
Close cooperation with the major international film festivals,
e.g. Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Montreal, Toronto, San Sebastian,
Tokyo, New York, Locarno, Karlovy Vary, Moscow;
Organization of umbrella stands for German sales companies
and producers at international TV and film markets, e.g.
MIP-TV, MIPCOM, AFM;
Staging of Festivals of German Cinema worldwide (2003:
Rome, Madrid, Paris, London, Los Angeles, New York, Sydney,
Melbourne, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Cracow, and Moscow);
Providing advice and information for representatives of the
international press and buyers from the fields of cinema, video,
and television;
Providing advice and information for German filmmakers and
press on international festivals, conditions of participation and
German films being shown;
Organization of the annual ”Next Generation“ short film program,
which presents a selection of shorts by students of
German film schools and is premiered every year at Cannes;
Publication of informational literature on the current German
cinema: KINO Magazine and KINO Yearbook;
An Internet website (http://www.german-cinema.de) offering
information about new German films, a film archive, as well
as information and links to German and international film
festivals;
Organization of the selection procedure for the German entry
for the OSCAR for Best Foreign Language Film.
The focus of the work: feature films, documentaries with
theatrical potential and shorts that have been invited to the main
sections of major festivals.
kino 4 the export-union of german cinema: a profile
2003 54