The 72nd Venice International Film Festival, which kicked off on Sept. 2, has helped many filmmakers find funding opportunities and set the stage for the success in sales of new films through a series of events, according to organizers of the festival.

This year the festival continued to host the fourth edition of Venice Film Market (VFM), a special section aiming to facilitate negotiations between filmmakers and investors.

Some 1,700 professionals participated in the market since it opened on Sept. 3, of which more than 400 production companies and 200 distribution companies, the VFM office said.

The event consists of two main networking platforms, the European Gap Financing Market and Final Cut in Venice, in addition to an industry forum titled Creative Europe.

At the two-day European Gap-Financing Market, sponsored by the European Commission, filmmakers from across Europe got the opportunity to impress industry professionals and hopefully secure a deal for the final financing of their projects.

The main criterion was to have 70 percent of financing in place, and all candidates must go through a selection process.

A total of 15 projects from 12 countries were chosen to participate this year, and were scheduled to meet with 61 companies. In total 246 one-on-one meetings were organized, nearly 40 percent more than last year.

Meanwhile, the goal of Final Cut Venice, in its third edition, is to support the post production of films from developing countries in Africa and the Middle East.

Six projects from five countries -- Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon and Syria -- were selected to hold talks with production companies and foundations, seeking sponsorship or investment for the finishing phase of their films.

Among them, four have been given direct financial support ranging from 15,000 euros (16,930 U.S. dollars) to 5,000 euros or offered studios and facilities for post production by partners of Final Cut Venice after the meetings.

As for sales, figures from the VFM office show that on Sept. 9 alone, 15 films were purchased or acquired for international sales by media groups and market representatives. More sales are expected as negotiations for certain films are still ongoing.

The 72nd Venice International Film Festival will come to a close on Saturday with the Golden Lion awards ceremony. Endit

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