The new Fund is expected have approximately €8m ($11m a year) at its disposal; this year’s EFM contains screenings of several Czech productions and coproductions, including IFFR Tiger winner My Dog Killer [pictured].

After years of wrangling, the Czechs finally have a new film fund.

Helena Frankova, Head of the Media Department at the Czech ministry of Culture, will be in Berlin this weekend to brief the international industry on this new “state fund” for Cinematography. Frankova will be attending Sunday’s meeting of European Film Agency Directors (EFAD).

Late last year, the new Film Act was passed in spite of Czech President Vaclav Klaus originally vetoing the legislation. This Act replaced legislation that had been in place since the early 1990s.

The new Fund is expected have approximately €8m ($11m a year) at its disposal.

This money comes from a 1% levy on cinema ticket sales, 2% from advertising on private broadcasters, 1% from advertisers on cable and satellite TV and 0.5% from VOD.

It will invest in production and development.

The Fund will also administer the Film Industry Support Programme (the tax rebate worth approximately 20% to international producers shooting in the Czech Republic).

A new Managing Director of the Fund will be appointed later this year. A panel of experts will also shortly be appointed to assess projects.

Local industry figures have given a warm welcome to the long awaited changes in public film funding.

“The communication and strategy will be much more transparent,” commented Jana Cernik of The Czech Film Center (which has now become a state body itself thanks to being incorporated in the National Film Archive).

Here at the EFM, there are market screenings of several Czech productions and coproductions, among them David Ondricek’s In The Shadow (sold by Beliberg), IFFR Tiger winner My Dog Killer by Mira Fornay (sold by m-appeal), Darko Mitrevski’s The Third Half (sold by the Little Film Company) and Piotr Mularuk’s Yuma (Yetti).