Written by Tom Deehan on Feb 16, 2017. Posted in Incentive News

Jihlava IDFF to establish dedicated film fund for Central and Eastern European documentaries

Countries within Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) will soon have access to a new film fund, courtesy of the Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival. The fund will cater specifically to mid-range and feature length documentaries, with the first round of grants aimed at projects premiering in late 2017.

The Director of the IDFF, Marek Hovorka explains: “we want to support remarkable and creative filmmakers and visual artists who have emerged in the recent years in the region, and help their films to succeed abroad.”

He continues: “we are primarily looking for projects with unique authorial style and a focus on contemporary and thought-provoking themes.”

In accordance with the fund, successful applicants will receive up to EUR11,000 in post-production services (provided by UPP) and a total of EUR5,000 in Soundquare mixing services.

The IDFF will also arrange networking events for the filmmakers to meet various industry figureheads, with the intent of receiving bespoke feedback in the process. Filmmakers will have until April 30^th to apply for the fund. Successful applicants will be informed on July 4^th.

CEE countries such as Poland, Romania and Estonia boast thriving production industries. Poland recently announced that it will soon employ a 25% cash rebate incentive as a means of attracting more productions from abroad.

Submissions are now being taken for the 21^st iteration of the IDFF which will take place October 24^th – 29^th. Last year’s festival declared Maria Kourkota’s Spectres are haunting Europe as the Best World Documentary Film. The film depicted the journey of refugees fleeing the Middle East and travelling to Europe.