Documentary Production Funding

Producers with a registered office in Germany are eligible to apply.

At least 1.5 times the grant amount must be spent on the project in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Funding may generally amount to up to 50% of the calculated total production costs.

The applicant’s own funds must amount to at least 5% of the production costs.

Compliance with the environmental standards for production funding of films and series is mandatory.

A consultation is required before submitting an application; the application portal will only be activated after the consultation.

For international projects, a German co-producer is required.

A declaration must be submitted stating that this is a new project.

Producers and directors with their principal place of business in North Rhine-Westphalia are eligible to apply.

Funding is available for culturally significant documentary films with estimated total costs of no more than 1.5 million euros.

Up to 100,000 euros in funding may be requested for the production of a feature film.

Funding is provided as a grant and may cover up to 80% of the estimated total costs.

The ecological standards are mandatory, with the exception of productions with a production value of less than 50,000 euros.

Students are not eligible to apply; separate funding is available for their graduation films.

Projects that were submitted through the regular funding process and rejected cannot be resubmitted in the Simplified Funding program.

International co-productions are only permitted for the production of feature-length films; this also applies to documentary films.

For international projects, a North Rhine-Westphalian co-producer is required.