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25-10-2018

Polish Film Institute Introduces Support for Microbudget Debut Films

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    WARSAW: The Polish Film Institute introduced a new grant category that will support microbudget productions directed by film school graduates and other debut filmmakers.

    The "First film" priority grant is designed to support first-time directors ranging from film school graduates to other filmmakers who haven't made their debut film but can present a documented body of work in film. The latter have to submit their works to the Polish Film Institute by 31 October 2018 for verification. The ones who get a positive review from the experts will be eligible to submit their applications alongside film school graduates, who are automatically eligible to apply for the grant with the producers of their films.

    The grant will finance full feature debuts, a minimum of 72 minutes long, with a top budget of 700,000 PLN / 162,581 EUR. The projects will be produced in cooperation with a national TV broadcaster, that will act as a coproducer with rights to the film. The grant regulations entail that no additional coproducers or investors will be involved in the project. In total, 85% of the film's budget will come from the grant, 10% will come from the broadcaster and 5% will be the input of the producer submitting the project for financing. The total budget for this grant category has not been announced yet. The producer and the director will present their project before a special Committee during a pitching session.

    The call for applications will take place 16-30 November 2018, with the production of the films planned for 2019.