The World Cinema Fund (WCF) was founded in 2004 to support the production and distribution of films from some focus regions which lack a constructive film industry. The new WCF Europe will expand the activity of the WCF taking care of some essential innovative elements to optimize the co-operation between Europe and regions outside of Europe, to strengthen the European profile in the global audiovisual production landscape and to improve the circulation of films within and outside of Europe.WCF Europe will support artistic and innovative films (feature-length fiction and creative documentaries) from the WCF regions (Latin America, Central America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and countries of the former USSR excl. the Baltic Region and Russia) in advanced production stage, as well as the distribution of other or the same films from those regions in and outside Europe.WCF Europe Production: Eligible for production support are EU production companies working with filmmakers and producers from the WCF regions. Special consideration goes to production companies from countries with a low co-production capacity and to production companies from countries which are not yet firmly established in the international co-production landscape.WCF Europe Distribution: Eligible for distribution support are distribution companies in Europe and the WCF Europe regions. Films from WCF regions can be submitted by a group of at least three distributors (incl. 1 European + 1 from a WCF region).Since working on communication and networking structures between international distributors is an important priority in the field of international distribution, we will establish in one of the first steps of the WCF Europe activities the so-called WCF Distributors Network. In a second step, we will establish a “First Look: Rough Cut” Programme to create an early awareness for the films and bring producers of nearly finished WCF films together with buyers