Representatives of the Georgia film industry addressed an open letter to the Minister of Culture with a request to double the budget (currently 5,100.000 GEL) of the Georgian National Film Center.
“For several years now, the annual budget allocated for the film production of the Georgian National Film Center has remained unchanged, which remains a major challenge for the development of Georgian cinema. The need to increase funding became more obvious during the pandemic,” the letter reads.
“It should also be noted that despite the financial difficulties, Georgian filmmakers have achieved significant success on the international stage. Georgian cinema has established itself at the world’s leading festivals and on global film platforms. Given that Georgian cinema has a fairly large audience abroad, it contributes to the popularity of the country and, in itself, is directly related to attracting investment and visitors to the country.”
The appeal states that most of the projects funded by the Film Center are co-financed by various foundations and film companies around the world, which is of great importance in terms of foreign exchange inflows into Georgia.
As noted in the letter, Increasing the budget of the Film Center will contribute to the growth of Georgian film production and its diversity, which in turn will contribute to the development of the country’s culture and film industry, popularization of cinema, as well as more economic benefits, including through film tourism.
“Please pay attention to all those all-important circumstances that clearly demonstrate the need to increase funding for the national film industry and take into account the official application of the National Film Center for 2022 regarding the increase of the film production budget to 10 million GEL,” reads the letter.
By Ketevan Skhirtladze
