21-01-2008

Lithuania boosts film funding by one-third in 2008

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    The Lithuanian Ministry of Culture is boosting the state film funding budget by one-third in 2008, according to the Lithuanian Film Council. During 2007, the Culture Ministry considered about 100 film projects and decided to support 30 requests for film production and 17 requests for film distribution totaling 7 million litas (€2 million).

    The budget for 2008 means that feature films can be funded to a maximum of 2 million litas (€580,000) under the program, which provides partial sponsorship.

    Film development projects can be funded to a maximum of 135,000 litas, short feature films 670,000 litas, feature-length documentaries 400,000 litas, short documentaries 270,000 litas, full-length animated films 1.3 million litas and short animated films 270,000 litas.

    National and co-production films released in Lithuania and abroad are in line for the biggest partial sponsorships. The budget was likewise increased by one-third allowing for partial sponsorship up to 110,000 litas per film.

    Responding to a request from the Independent Film Producers Association, the rules that define funding allocation to film projects were clarified. The changes govern the submission of required documents as well as the way estimates are drawn up for film projects.