About the project

Polish-Norwegian Film Festivals Cooperation is an initiative aimed at strengthening film ties between Poland and Norway, consisting of industry events, workshops and film reviews organized jointly in both countries. The aim of the project is to enable debuting filmmakers to establish Polish-Norwegian contacts and gain specialist knowledge in the field of international sales, promotion and distribution of films.

During the Amandus BLIKKFANG Film Festival in Lillehammer and the WAMA Film Festival

in Olsztyn, organizers held workshops for Polish and Norwegian film school students, meetings with industry experts and reviews of Polish and Norwegian short films.

Meeting in Oslo

At the end of April, members of the Polish organizational team met in Oslo.

with Norwegian partners from Amandusfestivalen. The purpose of the meeting was to summarize the project, share experiences and observations, as well as talk about future cooperation on subsequent projects. Stine Marie Solem (director of the festival), Eivind Myklebost Nordengen (producer and program director of the festival) and Othelie Brødholt (coordinator of the PNFFC project) guided the Polish delegation around Filmens Hus – an institution specializing in audiovisual production in Oslo. The partners also talked about the state of Polish and Norwegian cinematography after the end of restrictions related to the pandemic.

A visit to Stavanger

The next meeting took place in Stavanger, where members of the Polish organizational team met with Kaja Szulc-Nweke and Ewa Kozikowska – distributors of Polish films and founders of the KINO Project. The initiative was launched in 2015 in Norway, but at the moment the distribution has been extended, among Denmark, England, Ireland, Germany, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands and Belgium. The crew had the opportunity to see the ODEON cinema in Stavanger from the inside.

Further cooperation

Even though the Polish-Norwegian Film Festivals Cooperation is coming to an end, both sides of the project are ready to take on the next common challenges. Many international friendships were made during the project, and the organizational teams from both Poland and Norway are focused on implementing new projects. During the meeting, many ideas for new initiatives and the participation of partners in existing projects emerged.

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The project “Polish-Norwegian Film Festivals Cooperation” was co-financed by the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area (EEA FM) 2014-2021 and from the state budget.

The organizer of the project is the KOSMOPOLIS Institute, Foundation for Science, Culture and Education.

The partner organizations are: Stiftelsen Amandusfestivalen and the FILMFORUM Association.

Partner festivals taking part in the project are: Amandus Blikkfang and WAMA Film Festival in Olsztyn.