Last week, the Ministry of Culture and Gender Equality granted an additional 30 million Norwegian crowns (ca. €3.046 million) to help the recovery of the country’s audiovisual industry. The funds will be administered by the Norwegian Film Institute (NFI).

“From the NFI’s side, the main goal of our pandemic-related measures has been to stimulate the sector and help future productions to be finalised with the right care and meet their audience. The Minister of Culture has now chosen to allocate a further 30 million to the Norwegian Film Institute, in order to help the recovery. These funds give us room to implement new measures — in collaboration with industry players — so that Norwegian projects can position themselves internationally and be launched successfully, but they will also help attract people back to the cinemas,” said Kjersti Mo, director of the Norwegian Film Institute.

In 2022, a total of 1.2 billion Norwegian crowns (ca. €122 million) were set aside for corona support schemes aimed at the cultural sector. The funds that are now being distributed are part of the 300 million crowns (ca. €30.5 million) that were allocated to strengthen existing policies. Funds will be distributed quickly, so that both production and cinemagoing can benefit from them in the nearest future.

“Society is now opening up again, and the government will do its part to get the film industry back to normal as soon as possible,” added Anette Trettebergstuen, Norway’s Minister of Culture and Gender Equality. In detail, the funds will cover a scheme to support early financing during the development phase and another one to support international sales and distribution of local titles in order to take advantage of “the strong momentum Norwegian film is experiencing around the world.” The funds will also help to compensate producers who incurred in extra costs as a result of increasing expenses and it will back stronger promotional campaigns to stimulate cinema going.