One of the largest internationally renowned markets for the promotion of film locations, FOCUS 2018, is taking place on 4 and 5 December in London. This year, the Slovenian Film Centre, which carries out the activities of a Film Commission in Slovenia and therefore also provides support for foreign film productions shot there, will attend this event in order to present the Slovenian film locations for the first time.

The promotion of the Slovenian film locations will take place in cooperation with the Slovenian Tourist Board. This is a continuation of an already successful collaboration, since Slovenia, as a film location, was already presented effectively at this year's film festival in Cannes. The purpose of these sorts of promotional events is to endorse Slovenia as a film destination and create a platform for the establishment of connections and acquaintances among filmmakers and producers in particular.

A delegation of Slovenian film producers, accompanied by the Director of the Slovenian Film Centre Nataša Bučar, will attend the market as well. The presentation in London will also be attended by the Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia, His Excellency Tadej Rupel, M.Sc., and by the head of the Slovenian Tourist Board for Great Britain and Ireland Mladen Ljubišič.  

Because of its idyllic and picturesque appearance, Slovenia has a diverse range of film locations to offer. Meanwhile, in line with the model of the majority of the European countries, Slovenia's 25-percent cash rebate measure for foreign productions represents a further incentive for foreign producers to shoot in the Slovenian territory. All the well-preserved historical sites, the number of scenic locations in the immediate vicinity, and the fact that it is possible to shoot in the mountains as well as by the sea in a single day belong among the key factors that qualify Slovenia as one of the most exclusive film locations.

Last year, producers from Great Britain, Republic of Korea, and Ireland therefore shot their projects in Slovenia. The regular distribution of the Irish film "The Belly of The Whale", which contains music co-written by the Slovenian composer Janez Dovč as well as sound design co-created by numerous Slovenian associates, is to begin in Ireland in the first half of December. Other works filmed in the Slovenian territory this year include the following: the Italian TV series "I Just Wanted to Be a Rock Star" and the second season of the Serbian series "Shadows over the Balkans"; as well as the film "Who the Fuck You Think You Are Slavoj Žižek?" by a British producer and "Don't Be Afraid If I Hug You" by an Italian producer.

The Slovenian Film Centre is also a member of the the EUFCN - European Film Commissions Network, which aims to use these sorts of events in order to continuously encourage the long-term economic effects of international collaborations in the field of filmmaking and promotion.

Tallinn Black Nights awards the Latvian documentary film maker and founder of the legendary  Riga School of Poetic Documentary Cinema Ivars Seleckis with the second Lifetime Achievement Award of the festival.

Yesterday in Tallinn, during a special presentation at Industry@Tallinn &; Baltic Event, Rolandas Kvietkauskas, the director of the Lithuanian Film Centre, presented to the international film community the results and future outlook of the government’s tax incentive for film production in Lithuania – the national tax incentive will rise to 30% in 2019. Kvietkauskas and producer Gabija Siurbytė (Dansu Films) discussed cases of successful tax incentive use, the scheme’s future prospects and important details filmmakers should know about the measure.

The Lithuanian Film Centre has recently published a piece of research that shows successful results of the period 2014–2017. The study was done by the Belgian creative industry consultancy KEA European Affairs. It shows that the period was exceptionally prolific in both national film productions and international co-productions, and brought significant benefits for the national film industry and the economy. Learn more about it here.

The Lithuanian film tax incentive introduced in 2014, has proven to be an effective film industry development tool for production services, a financial resource for international co-productions and national genre films as well as TV drama. Lithuania and its industry has drawn attention of such companies as the BBC and HBO. The impact was analysed by international researchers who demonstrated positive effects for both the film industry and the economy in general. Due to the encouraging results, the tax incentive will be raised from 20% to 30% for the next five-year period.