25 Years of the Minitraité:
a German-French Success Story

Hardly any other European film partnership has grown as steadily over the decades as the one between Germany and France. Whilst this is reflected in political agreements, joint funding instruments and institutional cooperation, its true impact is primarily felt where films are being made: in the collaboration between producers, screenwriters, directors and creative professionals from both countries.

Over the past 25 years, the so-called Minitraité has become one of the most important instru­ments in this special relationship. The joint co-production fund, which is administered on the German side by the German Federal Film Board (FFA) and the Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM), and on the French side, by the Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée (CNC), was established to facilitate joint film projects in a targeted manner and strengthen cooperation between the film industries of both countries on a long-term basis. The funding guidelines explicitly set out this very objective: apart from fostering cooperation between filmmakers, the pro­gramme aims to enhance the international competitiveness and cultural influence of the supported films.

25 years Minitraité Happy Hour at Filmfest Munich (left to right): Julia Weigl (Filmfest Munich), Jonas Dornbach (Komplizen Film), Kirsten Niehuus (FFA), Valeska Grisebach (Director), Lucile Revelon (CNC), Peter Dinges (FFA), Christoph Gröner (Filmfest Munich) © Sophie Wanninger

Over the course of a quarter of a century, a cultural policy initiative has given rise to a stable infrastructure for European filmmaking. As early as between 2001 and 2012, 113 films had been supported with a total of around € 29.65 million. According to figures released to mark this year’s anniversary, the number of supported productions now stands at around 250 films. These include numerous works that have attracted attention far beyond Germany and France at international festivals and in cinemas. They range from acclaimed auteur cinema through to ambitious international productions, demonstrating that co-production can be far more than simply the joint financing of a film: it brings different production cultures together, opens up new creative perspectives, and provides access to talent, markets and audiences on both sides of the border.

Productions funded by the Minitraité include, for example, Olivier Assayas’ CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA, Julia von Heinz’s TREASURE, Leos Carax’s ANNETTE, and Fatih Akin’s THE CUT.

CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA © Pallas Film| NFP

Meanwhile, in this anniversary year, Valeska Grisebach’s THE DREAMED ADVENTURE is yet another internationally successful German-French collaboration that is a perfect example of the fund’s impact.

On a structural level, the Minitraité still remains an exceptionally closely integrated funding model. Germany and France decide jointly on the allocation of the funding: the German-French Commission consists of three members appointed each by the FFA and the CNC. The annual joint funding budget currently stands at € 3.2 million, of which € 200,000 is earmarked for the German-French Project Development Fund for the next generation of producers. On the German side, producers can apply for conditionally repayable loans of up to 20 per cent of their co-production share and a maximum of € 300,000 for the production funding.

The fact that the anniversary in 2026 isn’t just being seen as an opportunity to take a look back, but also as a chance to reflect on the collaboration’s future was underscored at the MUNICH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. An entire day of the festival was dedicated on 29 June to Minitraité’s 25 years. THE DREAMED ADVENTURE had its German premiere in Munich on the evening of that day, and another two Minitraité-supported funded productions were screened at the festival: Rubika Shah’s documentary THE MAD DOG OF EUROPE and Susanne Heinrich’s THE MISERABLE MOTHER.

THE DREAMED ADVENTURE © Komplizen Film

This autumn will see the friendship between the German and French film communities taking centre stage once again. On 1 and 2 October 2026, the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg will be celebrating both its own 35th anniversary as well as 25 years of German-French cooperation in the film and media sectors. The anniversary will bring together several institutions and initiatives that became cornerstones of the exchange between the two countries’ film industries in 2001: the Minitraité, the German-French Film Academy and the Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris. A two-day event featuring screenings, discussions, alumni presentations and encounters between the worlds of film, media, arts and politics aims to honour past achievements and, at the same time, discuss future perspectives for the European media landscape.

It’s precisely the combination of these various initiatives that illustrates how the German-French film cooperation has never just been limited to financial support. At the same time as political rapprochement was achieved in the field of cin–ema, training programmes and networks were created, shaping a new generation of European-minded producers and filmmakers. The Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris, for example, started its work when the German-French Film Academy was created and still sees the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg working closely with the French film school La Fémis. That has also resulted in an infrastructure of personal relationships developing alongside the programme of funding films – and is perhaps one of the most important reasons for the sustainability of Franco-German collaboration.

From October 7 to 11, 2026, German Film Week will take place in Paris. The Festival du Cinéma Allemand will once again present a diverse selection of recent German films at the Cinéma L’Arlequin, including a co-production supported by Minitraité.

The next major gathering will be the German-French Film Meeting held in Berlin this November. Producers, the creative community, distributors, funding bodies and political decision-makers from Germany, France and other European countries will be gathering once again at the Alte Münze on 24 and 25 November, 2026. The Minitraité’s anniversary will also be a key focus in this year’s programme.

The Film Meeting also coincides with the 2026 edition of the French Film Week which will be presenting French and Francophone cinema to a German audience in November and culminat­ing on 25 November with a closing event held in conjunction with the German-French Film Meeting. These couple of days will therefore see two sides of the same partnership meeting up: the behind-the-scenes collaboration in the development, financing and production of films, and their public visibility on the big screen.

25 years after its launch, the Minitraité thus stands for more than just an impressive number of films that have been produced. Perhaps its most lasting achievement lies in having transformed co-production from an exception into a standard form of European collaboration. In a film industry that, in the face of rising production costs, changing financing models and increas­ingly international competition, is more reliant on partnerships than ever before, this idea seems more relevant today than it did when the fund was originally founded. So, this anniversary offers an opportunity to do two things: take stock of 25 years of shared successes – and also consider what conditions need to be put in place to ensure that new films, new talent and new European stories will be made possible by this friendship between the German and French film industries over the next 25 years.

In the following interview with Peter Dinges, Executive Director of the FFA, we discuss the history, impact and future of the Minitraité.

Did this funding initiative lead to the formation of long-term partnerships between German and French production companies? Which partners have regularly been successful in receiving funding over the years?

Yes, and these kinds of long-term partnerships were what the Minitraité was about from the very outset. People now know one another, value each other’s professionalism and have learnt over the years to trust each other. However, the Minitraité alone could never have achieved this. An agreement and a fund are not enough on their own. What was also a deciding factor were the annual Rendez-vous franco-allemands and, in particular, the Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris which is also celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The combination of regular meetings and the training of young international talent has fostered a close-knit network of producers. There were, of course, some constants within this growing network. On the German side in the early days, these included Integral Film with the Chabrol co-productions. Later on, it was X Filme with the trilateral Haneke co-productions, and Schramm Film has been there for a long time with the films of Christian Petzold who is very popular in France. Komplizen Film, Pandora, Razor Film and Lupa Film are now among the production companies collaborating on a continuous basis with French partners and also bringing their films to French audiences.

At the same time, there are production com­panies on the French side that have left their mark on German-French collaboration for many years. They include, for example, Haut et Court and Les Films Pelléas, as well as Les Films du Losange with its long-standing collaboration with X Filme, and 10:15! Productions who has repeatedly worked together with Lupa Film. What you find behind many of these films are partnerships that weren’t just entered into for a single project, but one that have grown over many years.

In an evaluation from 2014 covering the first 12 years of the Minitraité, 54 per cent of the funded projects were majority French co-productions and 43 per cent majority German. How has this ratio developed in the following years?

The French side remained stronger during the whole period from 2013 to 2025: 42 per cent of the approved projects were majority German co-productions, whilst 58 per cent were majority French ones. However, in recent years, the ratio has become noticeably more balanced. In the period between 2022 and 2025, majority German and majority French projects both accounted for 50 per cent. This is not to be taken for granted: French producers traditionally have a stronger financial base and, in any case, more films are produced in France. That we have nevertheless achieved a completely balanced ratio in recent years comes down to the fact that German cinema is now regarded differently in France from the case 25 years ago. Take, for example, the recent successes of Mascha Schilinski and Valeska Grisebach at Cannes. The interest of French partners in German projects has grown. We would like to consolidate this balance. We will be presenting a comprehensive evaluation giving a more precise examination of this development and the other effects of the Minitraité when we celebrate the fund’s anniversary in November.

Which genres feature particularly frequently among the funded productions? Are there any genres you feel are missing?

Of course, dramas are most frequently funded – and with a really great variety. Children’s films, documentaries and animated films are also represented, albeit much less frequently. Taken overall, many of the funded films fall into the arthouse or crossover categories. This is only to be expected since the Minitraité stands for cultural exchange. Regardless of genre, it is striking that an increasing number of projects are being developed with partners from several European countries. These films often have a distinct European identity – in their subject matter, their points of view and their narrative styles. What would I like to see? More courage to make comedies – perhaps even romantic comedies!

That said, I’m well aware that there is a cultural difference between the two countries in this regard. Humour is often influenced by national or even regional characteristics. And yet, sometimes even German humour works in France as Maren Ade’s TONI ERDMANN showed. But it remains a challenge.

The Project Development Fund was established in 2015 as a supplementary agreement to the co-production fund. Have such funded projects subsequently received support from the Minitraité?

The short answer: yes. Around 20 per cent of the projects funded by the Project Development Fund went on to receive production funding from the Minitraité. [Maximilian Bungarten’s BUMPER CARS is the latest example when it was supported in mid-July 2026. Ed.] We would like to increase this proportion in the coming years. But who is the Project Development Fund for? We want to use it to support young, talented filmmakers, not least the graduates of the Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris. They should be given the chance to take their first step towards an international co-production and perhaps working together with an established producer. The 20 per cent is therefore only part of the picture. It’s just as important to see if viable projects and lasting partnerships are emerging from the development phase. We are currently evaluating this scheme and considering how we can provide even better support for the development of story ideas for German-French collaboration in the future. After all, everything always begins with the ideas that can later result in great films being made.

What do you consider to be the most important achievements of the Minitraité?

When one hears the word ‘achievements’, the first thing that springs to mind is awards and prizes. And there’s no denying that these successes do exist: the Minitraité’s track record at festivals is impressive. Over half of the supported projects have been shown at major festivals, received nominations or won awards. We don’t have to look any further than 2026: YELLOW LETTERS by İlker Çatak was awarded the Golden Bear at the Berlinale. MINOTAURUS by Andrei Zvyagintsev received the Grand Prix at Cannes, while THE DREAMED ADVENTURE by Valeska Grisebach won the Jury Prize. But let’s not forget the audience. The Minitraité has reached people in Germany, France and far beyond, bringing them closer to the culture of the respective other country. Up until 2018, the fund­ed films had already posted 39.1 million cinema admissions. The current total is likely to be significantly more than that in the meantime. This wide reach is also an achievement in its own right. It’s just as important for me that lasting relationships have been made possible through the Minitraité. Production partners have got to know one another and continue to work to­gether – even on projects that are then not funded by this fund.

For me personally, the Minitraité is therefore a living example of German-French friendship. It shows that understanding in Europe really can work and that cultural exchange can grow beyond the scope of treaties and funding instruments into a vibrant partnership. That for me is its greatest achievement.

What are your hopes for the future of the Minitraité?

An anniversary is always a welcome opportunity to take stock and express one’s gratitude. We can look back on 25 years of trusting co­operation between the FFA, the BKM and the CNC – 25 years of joint sessions in Berlin and Paris, filled with discussions, mutual inspiration and learning from one another. This makes me very happy. I see the Minitraité as a gateway to the world. That’s why I hope above all else that even more filmmakers and producers will be able to pass through this gateway in the future. We want to continue intensifying our partnership with France and, at the same time, making even greater use of the Minitraité as a starting point for multilateral co-productions. I also hope that this will make Germany an even more attractive partner for international co-productions. But, above all, I would like to see the Minitraité continuing to bring people together over the next 25 years. Now more than ever, we know that understanding and trust cannot be taken for granted. They come about through encounters, working together and the willingness to engage with one another.

Angela Sonntag and Martin Blaney