Subsidies Instead of Investments

Tax Benefits to Change
In order to extend the Motion Picture Law, the Finance Ministry accepted the arguments of the film industry and completed the modifications of the Company Law and the Motion Picture Law. As a result, the „20% contributions” used by productions do not qualify as investments. Therefore, the producer of the film does not have to provide a share of the revenues to the sponsor, while the sponsor can forward its support under the title of financial asset transfer outside the VAT circle.

Strategic Draft

Culture in the long run
The draft of the Hungarian Culture Strategy was completed in July. In the fall, Culture Minister István Hiller initiated a public professional debate about the draft. The concept, which is in in line with the EU program of 2013, was created by a committee of 9 and a group of experts. The project is headed by economist László Harsányi, the chairman of the National Culture Program.

More Colour in Filmmaking

The distribution market in Hungary
The attendance numbers of domestic films may exceed 1.5 million viewers until the next Film Week. Hungarian films performed well already: attendance numbers reached 700,000 in October, while several new local productions that are likely to become hits have just opened in cinemas.

Lajos Koltai Also Among Potential Award Winners

Nimród Antal Nominated for European Oscar
The European Film Academy has two Hungarian filmmakers on its list of nominees in 2004:  Nimród Antal may receive a prize for the direction of Kontroll, while Lajos Koltai for the cinematography of Being Julia. The other nominees in the best director category are Pedro Almodóvar, Alejandro Amenábar, Fatih Akin, Theo Angelopulos and Agnes Jaoui.