Warmia-Masuria Film Fund

WHO MAY APPLY

To be eligible to apply for the competition, the movie has to have its content tied with the region and be produced in Warmia and Mazury to ensure spending within the region and that the production employs local workforce, institutions, local government bodies, as well as companies and establishments from the hotel, catering, transport and other industries.

Based on the experiences of existing Regional Film Funds, regions recoup 100-300% of the initial grant.

This is where the film is first screened, accompanied by special events promoting the region. The biographical connection of the film and its makers with Warmia and Mazury is also taken into consideration when awarding grants.

A group of experts creates a short-list, from which the best projects are picked out by the selection committee and awarded co-financing. 

January 1, 2019

The winners of the March 2017 competition were announced in June of that year.

The Marshal of the province has allocated 500 thousand zlotys for production grants. Grants have been awarded to four out of ten submitted projects (for details see the Films we’ve funded and News sections), including Piotr Domalewski’s debut film Silent Night (“Cicha noc”), a cinematic discovery of the year, which earned the Golden Lion Grand Prix, the Award for Best Actor for Dawid Ogrodnik and five special prizes at the 42nd Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, as well as 10 “Eagles” at the 2018 Polish Film Awards. The film continues to be shown at numerous festivals and film shows around the world. Silent Night has garnered a total of 26 awards. It is also shown as inflight entertainment for such companies as Emirates Airlines.

January 1, 2019

2. Competition

The WMFF allocated 500 thousand zlotys for co-financing the best film productions selected in the 2nd Competition, announced on 2nd November 2017. Four films were co-financed by the Fund: one fiction film, two documentaries and one animated film.

January 1, 2019

3. Competition

Starting with the 3rd Competition (2.08-30.11.2018), the Marshal of the province, Gustaw Marek Brzezin, has increased the funds available for production grants to PLN 700 thousand. By the decision of the Marshal, the increased funding will also apply to future competitions. The Fund co-financed one fiction film and three documentaries.

January 1, 2019

4. Competition

Three fiction films, two documentary films and one animated film will receive co-financing from the Warmia and Mazury Film Fund. Two of the pictures are debut movies. That is the final tally of the 4th Movie Competition, ended 19th December 2019.

January 1, 2019

5. Competition

Two feature films, including one by the great master of the Polish and world cinema Jerzy Skolimowski, and four documentaries will receive funding from the Warmia and Mazury Film Fund. The beneficiaries include two debutants. The results of the competition were announced on December 10, 2020.

January 1, 2019

November 19, 2021

6. Competition

The selection committee of the Warmia-Masuria Film Fund has opted to co-finance two narrative films – one feature and one debut in the “30 minutes” series – as well as a documentary. The winners were announced on 19 November 2021.

November 19, 2021

November 24, 2022

7. Competition

The voivodeship government earmarked a budget of PLN 700,000 for the selection committee, from which two narrative films and five documentaries received co-financing. The winners were announced on 24 November 2022

November 24, 2022

November 24, 2023

8. Competition

Co-financing under the 8th Competition was granted to one narrative debut (a Polish-Japanese-German co-production) and three documentaries. The winners were announced on 24 November 2023.

November 24, 2023

Since 2017 the Fund has allocated PLN 5.9 million to co-finance film production from the voivodeship’s budget. Support has been granted to 13 narrative films, 23 documentaries and 3 animated films, of which 16 were debuts. The co-financed movies have secured 104 awards at Polish and international festivals, including a 2023 Oscar nomination for Jerzy Skolimowski’s “EO”.

Mechanisms of local government funding for projects crystallised during the 1980s. RFFs are currently active throughout the countries of the “old’ European Union. There are over a hundred Funds, most of them in France (more than 40), with a dozen or so each in Great Britain, Spain and Germany.

60% of movie projects made in Germany are funded by such endeavours. RFFs first began emerging in Poland after 2005, which is when the Polish Film Institute was established. There are currently 11 Funds active in Poland, the oldest of which was established in 2007 in Łódź. The Warmia and Mazury Fund was established in 2017, and is the newest member of this group.