German international world sales companies play a crucial role in the film industry by investing private venture capital in German film productions and their international marketing. In this way, they contribute significantly to the films’ global visibility and financing.

Each German international distributor represents a global network of independent cinema distributors and license buyers, often built up through long-standing personal contacts.

German Films Service + Marketing GmbH therefore supports German international world sales companies with basic funding and reference funding.

This can be applied for once each calendar year.

German Films' international sales funding will be established on October 1, 2025. German Films is supporting German international world sales companies in view of the constantly changing market conditions in the international cinema industry and growing competition from national and international streaming platforms.

Through international sales funding, we aim to improve the visibility of German cinema films at home and abroad.

To be eligible to apply, a world sales company must

  • be a world sales company based and liable for tax in Germany (cf. §41, 1.1 of the current FFG)
  • act as a German world sales company as an intermediary agent for producers specializing in the commercial exploitation of feature films, undertaking marketing measures for the film and licensing it to film distributors and buyers abroad
  • be appointed by the producer as a world sales company through a global distribution agreement that gives it the right to distribute the film in at least 20 countries and outside of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH)
  • have had at least two new major German cinema productions — feature films, documentaries, or animated films — (with Germany as the major financing partner) in its lineup in the calendar year prior to the application. Each film may only be used once for qualification, regardless of how long it is kept in the line-up
  • The application period for 2025 begins on October 1, 2025 (7:00am) and ends on November 30, 2025, at 11:59pm
  • The forms for basic funding and reference film funding can be downloaded as PDF files from October 1, 2025 (7:00am)
  • Please send the completed PDF forms exclusively by email to weltvertrieb@german-films.de
  • Basic funding form
  • Reference film funding form
  • Receipts and contracts as attachments

The application period for 2025 begins on October 1, 2025 (7:00am) and ends on November 30, 2025, at 11:59pm