3.2 HIGH QUALITY, INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNISED CONTENT

An indicator of the success of Creative Europe in safeguarding cultural diversity is the international critical acclaim which its supported works receive. From 2017 to 2019, films which were supported by MEDIA in development or in their early stages of distribution received 147 major international prizes and awards – at the festivals in Berlin, Cannes, San Sebastian and Venice, and at the European Film Academy (EFA) awards, Oscars and Golden Globes10. On average 25% of all works which received MEDIA support for development were selected by major festivals and 10% won at least one prize11 .

Amongst video games, 27 games supported in 2014-2017 received 91 nominations at major international festivals12, winning 17 prizes. Their average rating by professional reviews on Metacritic was 74%.

In 2020, despite the disruption of film premiere festival competitions by the COVID-19 crisis, including the exceptional cancellation of the Cannes film festival, 9 MEDIA-supported films still received international recognition in the form of 18 awards and prizes: 3 awards at Berlinale 2020, 2 at San Sebastian 2020, 7 EFA 2020 awards and 3 Oscars at the 2021 edition, in addition to 11 other Oscar and 6 Golden Globe nominations.

Another Round, The Father, The Big Hit

10 Many other titles which win an award receive MEDIA support later for their international distribution. (Films often premiere at a festival, where they compete for a prize, and distributors decide to pick them up only later.) 11 The Development 2014-2017 Survey Report p.20. 12 Game Awards, Golden Joystick Awards, Independent Games Festival, IndieCade, Independent Developers’ Association Awards, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam, The Ivors, Big Indie Pitch.