Berlin production powerhouse X-Filme creative pool and its distribution arm X Verleih have been named Germany's most successful production company and distributor of 2003 when the German Federal Film Board (FFA) handed out Euros 15.9m retroactive "reference" funding.

The box-office success last year of Good Bye, Lenin!, Liegen Lernen and the co-production Vier Freunde Und Vier Pfoten earned X-Filme over Euros 2.3m to invest in the production of new German features.

The second place was taken by NFP teleart on the strength of just one production - Eric Till's Luther - which generated over Euros 1.41m "reference" support (NFP used the awards ceremony on Friday to also pay back the Euros 300,000 production support it had been grant by the FFA), while Claussen + Woebke Filmproduktion came in third receiving almost Euro 900,000 thanks to the success of such productions as Distant Lights (Lichter) and Anatomie 2.

Meanwhile, X Verleih just pipped 2002's top distributor Constantin Film to the post to pick up Euros 428,281 "reference" distribution support to invest in future releases of German films. Constantin received received Euros 424,922 and Concorde Filmverleih, distributor of Rosenstrasse and Dogville, Euros 340,959.

According to the FFA's outgoing board member Rolf Baehr, the percentage of retroactive production support going to films for children and young people increased from last year's 15.1% to 25.1% (it had been 39 per cent in 2002). Feature films' share remained stable at 73 per cent (2003: 77.5 per cent).