International co-production will bea focus of this year's Festival of German Film at London's Curzon Soho Cinema, which begins November 28 (Friday).

The programme includes an industry event hosted by German Films and the UK Film Council on strategies and business models for structuring co-productions with Germany.

More than 100 producers are expected to attend the event on Monday December 1, 90 of them are UK producers.

While the event has generated interest from UK producers, UK co-productions have suffered as a result of the current tax credit.

The UK Film Council will take part in the event and has acknowledged that when choices had to be made between inward investment, core British film or co-production with regards to the tax credit, it was co-production that lost out.

A Film Council spokesperson commented:

' We know the new tax credit works really well for UK domestic films and inward investment films. We have been monitoring how it works overall for co-productions. The level of co-productions has dropped in the last part of this year. While the tax credit is working well and has been well received, there is uncertainty about the longer term impact on co-production.

'We have seen a dip in the level of investment. In the last part of this year, there are only four productions taking place which are co-productions.

'The Government has asked us to keep them informed as to how the UK productions are working in regards to the tax credit. Margaret Hodge said she was aware of the issue and was looking at them most carefully. Given the change of minister from Margaret Hodge to Andy Burnham, we hope the Government is keen to be kept abreast on how it's working and that the interest continues.'

Speakers at the event will include producers: Uberto Pasolini (Sideway Pictures); Chris Curling (Zephyr Films); Thomas Kufus (zero one film); Jens Meurer (Egoli Tossell Film); and Steffen Reuter (Schmidtz Katze Filmkollektiv).

Germany 's Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg will be represented by co-managing director Kirsten Niehuus and the UK Film Council's Emma Clarke and Isobel Davis will also participate.

Four German international co-productions will be highlighted in a special festival sidebar:-Marie Noelle and Peter Sehr's The Anarchist's Wife, Stefan Schwietert's Echoes Of Home, Marco Kreuzpaintner's Trade and Uberto Pasolini's Machan.