The Gemeinschaftswerk der Evangelischen Publizistik (GEP) - Joint Association for Evangelical Communication - is the central media corporation of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), its member churches, facilities, and institutions. It is a publishing house and offers online and print products as well as special services in the fields of media ethics and media education, public relations, radio, television and film. Concerning film, GEP incorporates the monthly film magazin epd Film, the Film Cultural Centre including the FILM OF THE MONTH, the Evangelical Centre for Films Concerning Development Problems (EZEF), the production company Eikon and the distribution agency Matthias-Film. The Film Cultural Centre chaired by Christian Engels also hosts the INTERFILM Office.
The EKD (Evangelical Church in Germany) is the fellowship of the Lutheran, United and Reformed churches in Germany, and looks after the joint tasks for them. INTERFILM's partner in the EKD is the department of communication in the Church Office of the EKD. It comprises the press office, media and services, online and strategy and is chaired by Bernd Tiggemann.
The Evangelical Academy Frankfurt offers events in various formats in which topics of current and fundamental relevance are presented and discussed. It sees itself as an educational institution that reflects on social, political, economic, cultural and religious developments and is open to people from all areas of society. It aims to contribute to the democratisation of society and the development of Protestant perspectives. It has been in existence since 2017 and emerged from a fusion of the Evangelische Akademie Arnoldshain and the Evangelische Stadtakademie Römer 9. The Academy's programme also includes film events.
The "Haus kirchlicher Dienste" (House of Church Services) is the central institution of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hannover for the support of communities, parishes, and church districts. Its activities include art and culture, as well as media distribution. Both are concerned with film from different perspectives. The workgroup "Church and Film" is associated to the department.
Founded in 1950, Matthias-Film, formerly situated in Stuttgart, now in Berlin, is a media sales company buying films for non-commercial screenings in parishes and schools. Among others, it focuses on films for children and youth. Matthias-Film offers shorts, documentaries, and fiction films. A classic still in circulation is Pier Paolo Pasolini's "The Gospel According to St. Matthew".
Kirke og Film is a Danish association focussing on the dialogue between church and film. From 1945 to 1967, the first church film magazin was published under the same title. Today, articles, information, and other material to the issue appear on the website of Kirke og Film.
The purpose of the Foundation is to support and promote producing, distributing and broadcasting programmes dealing with religion, ethical issues and values from the perspective of basic values of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland.
The French association Pro-Fil, "Protestants et Filmophiles", was founded in 1992 and aims at promoting, out of a Protestant inspiration, films which allow us to understand the contemporary world by their artistic and human qualitites. Pro-Fil organises local discussion groups and seminars and publishes the journal "Vu de Pro-fil", as well as other publications.
The University of Edinburgh is linked to INTERFILM by the School of Divinity/New College which hosts a number of projects oriented towards religion, media, and the arts.
The Associazione protestante cinema "Roberto Sbaffi" is an Italian association for members of the Evangelical minority churches in Italy interested in film, for Valdensians, Methodists, and Lutherans. It supoorts, among others, the INTERFILM Jury at the Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica, the Venice film festival.
Current issues
At the Oulu's Children's and Youth International Film Festival 2024 the Church Media Foundation presented its "Look at Me..." Award to Nellie Rajala for her film "The Elf Ring".
Sascha Keilholz, director of the International Film Festival Mannheim-Heidelberg, in his greetings at the Ecumenical Reception reflects the actual political challenges after the US elections and the threats to democracy.
Dossier
On a national level, church film prizes are awarded regularly without INTERFILM being involved directly. These awards are documented here.