Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein’s regional film fund MOIN and the Berlin-based German Federal Film Fund (FFA) have joined forces with the Five Nordics alliance between the Nordic film institutes to launch the Nordic NEST initiative to promote co-development of feature films and high-end TV drama series.
The venture will launch at a kick-off event during the Industry Days at this year’s Filmfest Hamburg (September 25-October 4) in collaboration with Germany’s Producers Alliance, which will be attended by up to 60 experienced producers – 30 from Germany and 30 from the Nordic countries. Producers will need to have at least two feature films or TV drama series, including at least one international co-production, that were released commercially for cinema, broadcast or streaming.
A four-day programme from September 29 to October 2 will include a masterclass and co-creative session by Le Groupe Ouest, networking events organised by Industry Days and MOIN, and access to the International Film Distribution Summit on October 1 and the Explorer Conference on October 2.
According to the organisers, the Nordic producers will have up to three nights’ hotel accommodation and travel costs covered by the Danish Film Institute, Finnish Film Foundation, Icelandic Film Centre, Norwegian Film Institute and Swedish Film Institute.
The Hamburg event will be followed in January 2026 by the five-day Nordic NEST Space workshop organised by Le Groupe Ouest at a location on Schleswig-Holstein’s Baltic coast. There, five experienced German and five Nordic screenwriters will work on new story ideas that they will then present at the Göteborg Film Festival to 20 selected producers from Germany and the Nordic region.
MOIN has committed to award development funding of up to €20,000 to any project that is able to attract a German and Nordic production company on board at the Göteborg matchmaking event.
In addition, three of these projects will have the chance to receive additional script development funding from MOIN of up to €60,000 each after the treatment phase is completed.
The ten developed projects will also be presented to industry professionals at a works-in-progress showcase held during the 2026 edition of Filmfest Hamburg.
NEST was launched a year ago and aimed at screenwriters and executive producers of feature films, series, animation projects, documentaries and XR projects to support the development of ideas.
In the first 12 months, MOIN has invested €2.95m into story ideas for nearly 75 projects from filmmakers including Detlev Buck, Lukas Nathrath, Ipek Zübert, Natja Brunckhorst, Milena Aboyan and Kilian Riedhof.
The Nordic initiative is the first expansion of the programme onto an international level.
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