Overview
The Domestic Film Unit within Arts Council Malta is leading a delegation of a maximum of 4 Maltese producers to travel to Thessaloniki, as part of the 67th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, specifically the AGORA Industry Events taking place from 8-12 November 2026.
Following Malta’s successful accession to Eurimages earlier this year, the core objective of this delegation is to foster meaningful relationships, cultivate B2B partnerships, and facilitate official co-productions.
Who can apply?
Applicants must qualify as the following:
Independent Audiovisual Entities as defined in these guidelines.
Furthermore, applicants must meet all the following criteria:
- At least one directorship or the majority shareholding of the juridical entity must be ultimately held by Maltese citizens or persons who hold a permanent residence status in Malta.
- Be registered with the applicable regulating body at the time of submission of their applications.
- Be in possession of a valid VAT registration certificate.
- Be the originator of the project, script, or treatment, or have majority rights relating to the feature-length fiction or series project in an advanced stage of development.
- Submit a complete application under this programme ahead of the official closing deadline.
- The entity must present at least one feature film or series project that has reached an advanced stage of development and is explicitly intended for international co-production.
To ensure competitive market readiness, the applicant representing the entity must possess a professional track record including at least one completed previous work (such as a short film, feature, documentary or series) that has achieved either a commercial release, platform distribution, or an official selection at a recognised international film festival within the past five years, that is after 1 January 2021.
In alignment with the target programming of the November AGORA market, all feature-length documentary and documentary series projects are excluded from this initiative, as they fall under the distinct remit of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival; please note that the issuance of this current call does not guarantee or imply that a separate delegation will be organised for the documentary festival in the future.
To ensure broad and fair representation across the Maltese screen sector, a maximum of one application may be submitted per independent audiovisual company. The final delegation cohort will strictly comprise four unique producers representing four distinct companies, ensuring no single entity receives duplicate representation.
What costs will be covered?
Arts Council Malta will directly provide the following specific provisions for each of the four selected delegates:
- Market Accreditation: Full AGORA Industry Accreditation, granting comprehensive access to all official industry areas, market screenings, and digital platforms.
- AGORA Networking and Events: Full access to the official AGORA networking lunches, happy hours, and curated industry networking events.
- Accommodation: Up to four (4) nights of hotel accommodation in Thessaloniki, booked and managed directly by Arts Council Malta.
How to Apply
Applications must be submitted in full via email to [email protected] by the official deadline of 24 August 2026 at 12:00 (noon) CET. Applications that do not contain all the required documentation and mandatory information by this deadline will be deemed incomplete, will not be processed further, and will not undergo evaluation.
To apply, the applicant representing the entity must provide the following mandatory documentation as part of their submission:
- Finished Script: A complete script written in or translated into English. For episodic series projects, this must consist of the complete pilot script.
- Financial Plan and Budget: A detailed financing plan and top-sheet production budget in Euros, specifying the total estimated production costs and the sources and amounts of demonstrable financing already secured at the time of application.
- Pitch Deck: A professional project pitch deck containing the logline, synopsis, director’s artistic note, target audience overview, and visual references.
- Biography and CV: A comprehensive curriculum vitae and professional biography of the individual producer representing the entity, detailing past credits and industry track record.
- Producer’s Statement of Motivation and Co-production Strategy: A video pitching statement of a maximum of 5 minutes, outlining the producer’s creative attachment to the project, combined with a clear professional rationale explaining why physical attendance at the AGORA industry events is vital for the applicant’s company growth. This video must also detail the project’s specific co-production requirements, outlining why the project requires international partners and identifying targeted sales agents, distributors, or co-producers within the Mediterranean, Balkan, or broader European territories.
- Declaration of Eligibility: To upload the provided declaration of eligibility, which can be found here, whereby the producer confirms availability to attend the abovementioned physical and online dates.
Click here to download the guidelines.