10/10/2008

The 2009 General State Budgets law will allocate €124.23m to film. From this amount, the Ministry of Culture will grant €116.98m to the Film and Audiovisual Arts Institute (ICAA). In turn, the organisation headed by Fernando Lara will dedicate most of its budget to the Film Protection Fund, assigning €88m (+3.5% compared to 2008).

Film projects in Spain’s co-official languages will receive a significant boost. The autonomous regions will obtain €10.5m for the production, distribution and promotion of audiovisual works in Catalan, Basque and Galician, as agreed during the Film Law negotiations.

A further €1m – also to be handled by the regions – has been earmarked for movie theatres. Moreover, €1.04m will go to the San Sebastian Film Festival; €140,000 to the Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival; €117,000 to the Cultural Media Foundation for the Media Business School; €89,000 to the Spain Media Desk Foundation; €66,000 to FAPAE (Federation of Audiovisual Producers’ Associations); and €22,000 to the Buñuel Centre Foundation in Calanda. The aforementioned bodies receive funding every year.

For the first time in 2009, the Association of Women Filmmakers and Audiovisual Media (CIMA) will obtain €70,000; the Ibero-American Agency for ISAN Registration, €20,000; and the Federation of Spanish Cinemas (FECE), €150,000, for the drawing up of a study on the situation of the Spanish film market.

Besides the major festivals and organisations mentioned above, another €1,035,000 will be granted to similar events.