Aneta Zagorska of the Krakow Film Cluster, an organisation of some 60 members with around a dozen producers, told FNE that the group has targeted 19 events to attend over the next three years. “Everyone told us we must attend connecting cottbus,” she said. The one-year-old organisation was established to strengthen Krakow’s film industry. “It’s hard to keep people in Krakow,” Zagorska said.

Aleksander Wojtanowski, the New Business manager of Film Poland, told FNE that because of his German background, he is particularly interested in looking for coproductions with Germany. The company has been operating as a film services outfit and is now moving into production via coproductions. Their first coproduction is the 2 m EUR UK/Polish film The Last Witness directed by Piotr Szkopiak, a mystery/investigation into the Katyn massacre, currently in production. Next up will be a 7.5 USD Indian coproduction, The Maharaja’s Children, in preproduction for a summer 2017 shoot.

The Krakow Film Cluster entered into a partnership with the Krakow Technology Park, that grants Krakow production companies a 50% discount on post-production services, due to a grant from the EU to spur the creative industry. “It’s a sort of substitute for incentives,” Zagorska explained. Each production company can access up to 200,000 EUR in discounts for a three year period.