01/04/2014 - 80% of the amount is destined for film production, with smaller percentages going to distribution and promotion of local cinema

The secured amount of state support for the Bulgarian film industry in 2014 is approximately €6.5 million, the National Film Center (NFC) announced last week on the institution's website. A share of 80% of this amount (€5.22 million) is destined for feature-film, documentary and animation production, while minority co-productions have access to 20% (approximately €1 million) of the total production support.

10% (€640,000) of the funding will be granted to local productions and minority co-productions in order to help their domestic theatrical distribution, while 5% will be granted to film events such as film festivals and international campaigns for the promotion of Bulgarian cinema. The final 5% will be used for the funding of "special film projects on topics proposed by the Ministry of Culture", the NFC press release states.

In 2014, the institution will organise two funding sessions for each section/genre: feature films (in May and November), documentaries (April and October) and animations (April and October). There is one session (October) for co-productions with Bulgarian National Television and four sessions for the funding of minority co-productions, in March, May, September and November.

The supported projects are selected by a national commission of experts. A selected project can receive at least 30% and up to 50% of the previous year's average budget for the type of film production (feature, documentary or animation). A low-budget film, which is “a film with a budget of up to 60% of the average budget for a European film for the previous year, based on the database provided by the European Audiovisual Observatory”, can be granted up to 80% of its production budget.