One of the factors that enhanced the project “TIR” was that it is a co-production with Croatia. “When I first met Alberto Fasulo at the EURODOC Transregional Workshop in 2009”, says the film’s co-producer, Irena Markovic of Focus Media, “I immediately realized that he was a unique film- maker, with an interesting and very specific way of thinking and working. Not only for the basic idea of his project, but also for the extraordinary creativity that emerges in every detail of his thoughts on the film”.
At the workshop, Markovic also discovered “TIR”: “I was won over by the project because it’s a metaphor for humankind, which every day faces the contradictions of a modern society governed only by profit. So when Alberto asked me to co-produce the film, I didn’t think twice, I knew I wanted to be part of the project. We started working together and shortly thereafter the Croatian Audiovisual Centre recognized the project’s potential and backed us”.
“‘TIR’ received approximately €17,500 from our minority co-production fund”, says Sanja Ravlic of the Croatian Audiovisual Centre (CAC).
Since 2010, approximately 15% of the CAC’s national film fund budget has been reserved for minority co-productions. “We back all genres”, explains Ravlic. “Narrative features, documentaries, shorts and animated films. This year, around €700,000 was allocated for minority co-productions. We have four deadlines for submitting projects per year”.
She adds: “We chose to back ‘TIR’ for its ar- tistic qualities and also because we want to increase co-productions with Italy, which are increasingly better, especially when it comes to documentaries”.
“One of the most important underlying factors of this partnership”, concludes Ravlic, “is our experience working with the Friuli Venezia Giulia Audiovisual Fund for the past five years. The co-production forum When East Meets West, organized by the Fund since 2009, played a fundamental role in bringing our filmmakers together on projects of mutual interest. ‘TIR’ is one of these co-productions that was born in Trieste, so to speak”.