Today, the Czech Ministry of Culture announced in a press release that the Czech State Fund for the Support and Development of Cinematography would have no more than CZK 10M this year, the exact figure depending on the revenues from the sale of copyright to Czech films made in 1965-1991.
The Fund stressed that demanding features would be impossible to fund in the current situation, while low-budget projects could still hope to grab a portion of the ten million. During the latest board meeting, several Czech feature projects received a symbolic support of CZK 1; considering the situation, documentary films did much better, earning over CZK 500K (approx. EUR 20K). Planned for this year, financial support for the digitization of some 200 small cinemas is now in doubt as well.
While in 2011 the Fund distributed over CZK 200 million (approx. EUR 8M) in support money, board members have now requested that applicants reconsider sending in their applications until the critical funding situation has been resolved. The Ministry of Culture has started negotiations with the Ministry of Finance and private broadcasters, hoping to find a viable solution in order to get film funding back on track.