International co-production has become a backbone of financing for independent films during this century, as market money for their production has declined and at the same time sources of public funding across Europe and the world have grown in size and accessibility.

The pandemic has paralysed theatrical distribution and concentrated the exploitation value of films in a handful of global online platforms. With traditional distribution models unlikely to recover any time soon, with post-pandemic protocols sure to cause an overall rise in production costs, and with a new reluctance – for a range of reasons – towards producing a film in several countries, can co-production continue to function as the tool of choice for financing films outside the commercial mainstream?

Participants: Helge Albers (FFHSH/Hamburg Film Fund), David Collins (Samson Films), Rebecca O’Brien (Sixteen Films) and chaired by Simon Perry (ACE Producers).