Berlinale: Poland plans national filming incentive

“Poland has realised it needs to finally get on the filming incentives train that’s travelled through Europe,” said Tomasz Dabrowski, head of Film Commission Poland, in comments to KFTV at Berlinale's European Film Market. “We also plan to launch a separate fund specifically to support historical co-productions filming in Poland.”

The country has long offered production support through nearly a dozen different regional film funds, but this will be the first time the country has provided a national programme.

Dabrowski suggested the new development is partly due to changing government attitudes since Poland’s right-wing Law and Justice Party won a majority vote in December elections.

Shortly before the elections, the new director of the Polish Film Institute called for a full filming incentive to help Poland appeal more strongly to international producers.

Major productions filmed in Poland in recent years have included Kick, Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies and Jim Carrey’s True Crimes.

For more on filming in Poland see our production guide.