EFA & ICFR launch ‘Emergency Fund for Filmmakers’ in wake of Ukraine War

The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk, the partnership established by the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and the European Film Academy to act as the film community’s collective response to cases of filmmakers facing severe risk, has set up a special “Emergency Fund for Filmmakers” for film practitioners directly in danger due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The Coalition and the Fund have been canvassing for funding and donations as soon as war broke out. In the past days, significant financial contributions have been pledged by Germany’s key national and regional film funding bodies (EUR 100K), by La Scam, and by many individual donors.

The German funds include Filmförderungsanstalt FFA, FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW, HessenFilm und Medien, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, MFG – Medien- und Filmgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung, MOIN Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, MV Filmförderung, nordmedia – Film- und Mediengesellschaft Niedersachsen/Bremen.

The “Emergency Fund for Filmmakers” aims to help filmmakers with small grants of EUR 500, EUR 1,000 or EUR 1,500 to be able to assist in covering temporary relocation expenses, legal and administrative fees (visas etc.), to cover initial minor but necessary expenses required during the current situation. Filmmakers at risk can reach out directly to the Emergency Fund through contact@icfr.international.

Decisions on the grants are taken by the ICFR Board. ICFR Board members represent its three founding partners, the European Film Academy, IDFA and IFFR. For more information, please check the ICFR website.

ICFR’s mandate includes across the board support through lobbying the international film community for cases of filmmakers at risk, which applies automatically to almost every Ukrainian filmmaker in Ukraine today, as well as to the many openly and vocal anti-war filmmakers of Russia and Belarus. We urge film professionals and organizations around the world to join us in our efforts and to support us as we try to be of use to our colleagues in such terrible times.

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If you wish to support the work of the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk, you can donate to:

Bank account: Stichting ICFR
IBAN: NL 02 TRIO 0320 0470 40
BIC/SWIFT: TRIONL2U
Mention in the payment description: “Donation ICFR Emergency Fund for Filmmakers”