New features by Lars von Trier (Dogville), Ken Loach (Sweet Sixteen) and Alexander Sokurov (Vater Und Sohn) are among 14 film projects backed with over $3.8m (DM 8m) by the regional German public fund Filmstiftung NRW in its latest round of production funding.

Among the other projects supported are Icelandic filmmaker Dagur Kari's Noi Albinoi, Dutch director Robert Westdijk's Die Austern Von Nam Kee, Oscar-nominated Marc-Andreas Bochert's TV film Weihnachten, and documentary filmmaker Axel Engstfeld's feature documentary Mimik.

In addition, Filmstiftung NRW has committed $235,502 (DM 500,000) to writer-director Hanno Hackfort's Junimond, the first project in the "Radikal Digital" initiative launched by Road Movies, broadcaster WDR and Filmstiftung NRW last autumn to acquaint the up-and-coming generation of filmmakers with the possibilities of digital technology. Junimond will be shot on location in NRW this autumn.