Better times in sight for Czech filmmakers

The Czech government has approved an amendment to the audiovisual law that would provide stable funding for Czech cinematography and make the country more competitive in attracting foreign crews. The annual state subsidies should enable Czech filmmakers to launch more ambitious projects and co-productions and make better use of the potential of the Czech film industry.

Illustrative photo: European Commission

The concept of stable funding is something that financially-strapped Czech filmmakers had long called for. Under the proposed amendment the Czech State Cinematography Fund would receive 200 million crowns from the state budget annually, a sum allocated for the production of new Czech movies and better promotion. Although the bill has yet to be debated in Parliament the coalition’s comfortable majority in the lower house should secure its smooth passage. Culture Minister Daniel Herman described it as a historic breakthrough in state support for the sector.

“This amendment is a historic breakthrough in that it will secure stable support for Czech cinematography which is something that no government has done to date. Czech film is part of the family silver so to speak and I am very happy that this has come about.”

Film critics say this opens new horizons for talented Czech filmmakers who in the past have been restricted by extremely tight budgets or have failed to find sponsors for promising projects. They warn however that money alone will not automatically guarantee better quality.

Another fundamental change concerns the provision of film incentives for foreign crews, part of a long-term effort to bring Prague back on the list of Europe’s most attractive film destinations alongside London, Berlin and Budapest.

Illustrative photo: European Commission

At present the call for submitting applications is released only at the beginning of the year, while under the proposed amendment applications could be filed at any time throughout the year. The bill should also increase transparency in the fund’s decision-making which will have to publish and justify its decisions on any given project. This year up to 800 million crowns should go to support film incentives. Under the present conditions foreign producers shooting in the Czech Republic can get back 10 percent of the costs of foreign actors and crew members and 20 percent of the costs of services and goods bought in the country. The incentives, introduced in 2010 have attracted many foreign crews to the country –annually attracting investments of around four billion crowns –but experts in the field say the industry could satisfy a much higher demand.

Among the films to be shot in the Czech Republic this year is the World War II drama Anthropoid, a British Czech and French co-production based on the true story of two Czechoslovak paratroopers sent to assassinate Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich in 1942, Legends, an action series produced by Fox 21 and the Zookeeper’s wife, a US film starring Jessica Chastain.