The institute was formed to restructure the Ministry of Culture budget by merging Romania’s National Film Archives, Studiul de Creaţie cinematografică and Video Art Studio (the former Editura Video), operating under the umbrella of the ministry. The directive on how the organization would operate has been awaited by producers since the reshuffle.

The NFI is expected to be funded with 2 percent of the annual revenues made by the National Centre for Cinema, in addition to the 3 percent of the budget from the Cinema Fund received by the National Film Archives. The institute takes over the 84,559 square meters of the National Film Archives in Jilava, near Bucharest, and three cinemas - Eforie, Union and Studio. A manager will soon by nominated.

Run for several years by filmmaker Lucian Pintilie, Studioul de Creaţie Cinematografică is being folded into the new organization. Video Art Studio has been run by Laurenţiu Damian, the new president of the Romanian Filmmakers’ Union (www.ucin.ro), who is a key author of the new rules, according to filmreporter.ro. The NFI's proposed mandate encompasses helping produce features, documentaries and short films, TV series, advertisements and news, plus co-productions and service providing for foreign partners.