TwoGerman-French co-productions attracted the bulk of the $7m (6m Euros)production support allocated by Filmstiftung NRW atits last funding session.

Thelargest sum of $3m (2.5m Euros) was awarded to Jo Baier'sadaptation of Heinrich Mann's historical novel, Henri Quatre. Berlin-based Ziegler Filmwill be the producer with France's GTV as a three-partmini-series with a costume drama film planned for 2006. German actors AugustDiehl, Moritz Bleibtreu, Ulrich Noethen,Katharina Thalbach and TomSchilling are already attached to the cast.

Inaddition, $1.4m (1.2m Euros) is being invested by the Duesseldorf-basedregional fund in Dutch filmmaker Marleen Gorris'WithinThe Whirlwind which is beingadapted by Nancy Larson from the autobiography of the Russian authoress EugeniaGinzburg. This co-production between Tatfilm and Lorival is set tostar Merry Christmas lead actressDiane Kruger opposite Ulrich Tukur (Solaris) and Martina Gedeck(Mostly Martha).

Asum of $950,000 (800,000 Euros) was allocated to the Hamburg-based animationstudio Toons 'n' Tales for the first cinema outing ofthe children's favourite animated TV penguin, Jasper. Jasper - Reise Bis Ans Ende DerWelt will be produced with Cologne's Animationsfabrikand Plan b Media and is to be released in German cinemas by 20th Century Fox.

Furthermore,$600,000 (500,000 Euros) was invested in Josef Rusnak'sMeet the Devil, starring JoshuaJackson and Jessica Schwarz, which will shoot in Vancouver and Germany next year forMunich-based Screencraft Entertainment with US partner Gynormous Pictures. ArclightFilms are to handle international sales with Falcom alreadyin place as the German distributor.