Tom Tykwer and Istvan Szabo are amongst the film-makers to secure cash in the latest round of funding awards from financing body the German Federal Film Board (FFA).

Tykwer won funding worth $700,000 for his next feature, Heaven, from a script by the late Krzysztof Kieslowski and Krzysztof Pieseiewicz. The Berlin-based fund is also putting up more than $380,000 for Hungarian director Istvan Szabo's next project, historical drama Taking Sides, which will begin shooting at the Babelsberg Studios at the end of the summer with Studio Babelsberg as coproducer.

An award of $700,000 went to Polish filmmaker Feliks Falk for his thriller Code: Baltic Storm, which is based on the ferry tragedy in the Baltic. Additionally, Ben Verbong's family film Das Sams, to be produced by Kinowelt's production arm, Kinowelt Filmproduktion, secured $700,000.

Awards of $470,000 went to Sharon von Wietersheim's romantic comedy Suche Impotenten Mann Fürs Leben; Dominik Graf's Der Felsen; and Lars Kraume's Commercial Men, for Germany's Columbia Pictures Filmproduktion.

And $240,000 was allocated to hot young German director Peter Thorwarth's feature version of his comedy short Was Nicht Passt, Wird Passend Gemacht. The new generation of German film producers and directors were also recognised by the $290,000 awarded to the Planet B initiative by Berlin-based outfit Checkpoint Berlin Filmproductions. The outfit is producing a raft of B-movies at Studio Babelsberg this summer.