Aija Bērziņa, president of the Latvian Film Producers’ Association, told FNE, “The Riga Film Fund is very important for the Latvian film industry. It allows us to raise additional financing for foreign film productions in Latvia and enhances our competitiveness in the region. This funding source is often used for minority coproductions where the Latvian production company is a coproducer, not just a service provider. Therefore, Riga Film Fund assists not only in attracting investment to Latvia, but also supports the growth of the national film industry and promotes Latvia on an international scale. This fund has even greater importance now under the current circumstances of crisis, and we will need all means possible to restart the industry after the restrictions are lifted.”

The Riga Film Fund was established in 2010, and since then over 30 international projects have received funding, in return bringing to Latvia investments in the amount of around 20 m EUR. The projects represent numerous countries, among them the USA, Japan, Germany, Russia, South Korea, the UK, and Sweden.

The applications for the projects will open in mid-May.