Frank Coraci's Around The World In 80 Days starring Jackie Chan is one of 30 projects awarded a total of Euros 4.5m by the Central German film fund Mitteldeutsche Medienfoerderung (MDM).

US-based Walden Media's production partner Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures received Euros 500,000 production support for the action comedy which will travel to the East German town of Goerlitz on the German-Polish border to shoot the scenes set in Paris.

According to MDM funding committee chairman Juergen Lange, the Chan film will generate a spend of some Euros 4m in Goerlitz as well as raising the region's profile.

Other projects supported in the latest round of funding included Peter Timm's family film Mein Bruder Ist Ein Hund for Tradewind Pictures, Thomas Frick's mystery thriller Daemon for novapool/CineImages, and British-born Andrew Hood's feature debut Skindeep for Peter Rommel Productions.

Founded in 1998, MDM is the fourth largest German regional film fund last year supported 110 projects, including Eric Till's Luther, Peter Greenaway's The Tulse Luper Suitcases and Mika Kaurismaki's Honey Baby, with a total Euros 17m.