Prague, March 2 (CTK) – The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Czech parliament, approved on Wednesday a government amendment to the audiovisual law under which the State Fund for the Support and Development of Cinematography would get 180 to 200 million crowns a year from the state budget.
The amendment is yet to be assessed by the Senate, the upper house, and signed by President Milos Zeman into law.
The draft legislation would also makes the system of incentives for foreign film-makers more transparent to attract them to the Czech Republic.
The Culture Ministry says the aim of the legislation is to create a new stable source of support for cinematography.
The money should be mainly spent on the production of Czech films and their promotion in the Czech Republic and abroad, on support for cinemas and education of film viewers.
The level of the annual subsidy would correspond to the yields from the audiovisual fees in the previous year.
Another change applies to film incentives. At present, a call for filing bids is released only at the beginning of the year, newly it can be put up any time.
The amendment is also to make the decisions by the State Cinematography Fund members more transparent.
