02/05/2019 - The new fund will finance documentary productions from the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Denmark, while the institute is also digitising films from Greenland and the Arctic region

A shooting location on the Faroe Islands (© Filmshúsið/Faroese Film Institute)

The Danish Film Institute (DFI) is launching Norddok, a new fund that will finance the production of documentary films and TV series from the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Denmark. With a total budget of DKK 10 million (€1.34 million), the fund is part of the DKK 25 million (€3.35 million) agreement that was incorporated into the Danish Finance Act in order to raise young people’s awareness of the Kingdom of Denmark’s realms, and strengthen knowledge of the local communities and their mutual relations. It will also cover educational courses and trips.

Signed last June by Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Faroese PM Aksel V Johannesen and Premier of Greenland Kim Kielsen, the agreement will enter into force in 2019. Norddok’s total budget is supported by the Danish Finance Act to the tune of DKK 8 million (€1.07 million), while the remaining DKK 2 million (€268,000) comes from licence-fee income.

Applications are currently open: independent producers and TV companies from the Faroe Islands, Greenland or Denmark are eligible to participate. It should be noted that for Danish applicants, a Faroese and/or Greenlandic co-producer associated with the project is needed in order to be able to apply. The deadlines for projects in development is 1 June, while for projects in production, the latest day to submit applications is 1 November.

The entire application procedure and the Norddok fund are administrated by the DFI. After submission of the projects, a professional selection committee that is currently being appointed will decide on the applications. The board comprises two members from the Faroe Islands, two from Greenland and one from Denmark.

Claus Ladegaard, the DFI’s CEO, stated: "With the Norddok fund, filmmakers from Greenland and the Faroe Islands, in particular, have a better chance to produce and create stories from different angles to the ones we might have been used to until now. This initiative can help us to learn more about each other and strengthen the community, and hopefully it can serve as the basis for even more stories from Greenland and the Faroe Islands."

Furthermore, the DFI, in partnership with The Arctic Institute and Greenland’s National Archives, is investing DKK 2.3 million (€308,000) in a process to digitise films that deal with Greenland and the Arctic area, which will then be available across the whole Kingdom of Denmark. The selection includes movies that deal with nature and culture, as well as those focusing on anthropological sciences and more recent social-realist representations of the area. The digitisation will begin in early autumn, and the first films will be available soon after.