According to the cultural budget for 2017, agreed upon in the government coalition, the volume of Film Estonia support scheme for producing films and series involving foreign financing, will be increased from the previous 500,000 euros to 1 million euros.
The aim of Film Estonia support scheme is to stimulate the influx of foreign capital to Estonia and cooperation between Estonian and foreign filmmakers for producing audiovisual works.
According to the Minister of Culture Indrek Saar, doubling the volume of the pilot project for this support scheme is a very important step for the Estonian film, as this helps our filmmakers play a part in the international film industry, it also stimulates economy as a whole. “Foreign producers have shown a lot of interest towards Estonian film experts, shooting locations, as well as using high-level technology, infrastructure and service providers to film in Estonia. The pilot project has been launched with great success and the increasing volume of the support scheme will definitely make Estonia even more attractive to foreign filmmakers,” said Saar.
The balance of the fund for 2016 stood at 60,000 euros in August and nearly 1.5 million euros had reached Estonia in the form of taxes or as expenses incurred here. This year’s last application round for Film Estonia will be held in the beginning of November. It is estimated that the increased volume of the support scheme for films (up to 1 million euros) should bring at least 3.3 million euros to Estonia in 2017. Repayment takes up 20-30% of the foreign capital brought to Estonia.
The Film Estonia pilot, which supports the creation of films and series that is funded by foreign capital, was launched this year. The support scheme is financed by the Ministry of Culture and managed by the Estonian Film Institute (EFI). The base document of cultural policy “The fundamentals of cultural policy until 2020” and the Document of Development Directions of Estonian Film 2014-2020 also impose that the internationalization of cinematography in Estonia and co-production with filmmakers and companies from other countries should be supported.
You can read more about Film Estonia here.
More information
Mati Kaalep
Adviser in the Audiovisual Field of the Ministry of Culture
[email protected]
+372 628 22 38
Edith Sepp
Director of the Estonian Film Institute
+372 627 60 62
[email protected]