Croatia’s MEDIA Desk Head Martina Petrovic said that through 2013, Croatia received 3.3 m EUR and for 2014-2016, it received just over 2 m EUR.

Petrovic noted that Croatia was easily able to apply for only six of MEDIA’s 14 funding calls, with the bulk of the funding going to single project development, festivals and distribution.

During the 2008-2013 period, distribution took the largest share, with 883,000 EUR going to automatic distribution and 465,000 EUR going to selective distribution. Another 427,000 EUR went to Europa Cinemas during 2009-2013. A total of 17 films were funded: 13 for single project development, and four under the slate funding scheme, receiving 518,000 EUR altogether. Croatia’s active festival scene also benefitted, with five festivals receiving a total of 575,000 EUR. Training and digitalisation accounted for the remaining 136,000 EUR.

In the past three years, 2014-2016, films received the bulk of the funding, 523,000 EUR, 13 via single project development and 3 via slate funding. Five festivals shared 374,000 EUR in grants. Selective distribution received 233,000 EUR and automatic distribution will have up to 280,000 EUR by the end of 2016. Europa Cinemas got 215,000 EUR and the remaining 132,000 EUR went to training and audience development.

Petrovic told FNE, “From year to year there has been growth, culminating with 2015 and a record amount of 797,430 EUR.”

As the first non-EU member of MEDIA, Croatia “was used as the example” for other countries in the Balkan region, according to Petrovic. The country still stands out from its neighbors as a MEDIA grants success story, thanks, Petrovic noted, to support coming from the Croatian Audiovisual Center, which helps Croatian filmmakers take advantage of MEDIA training opportunities.