02/02/2017 - Cineuropa talked to Valeriu Jereghi, the Moldovan filmmaker who last year became the director of the country’s first National Film Center

Cineuropa caught up with Valeriu Jereghi, the Moldovan filmmaker who in 2016 became the director of the country’s first National Film Center. This institution is a new actor, but nevertheless an ambitious one, in the European film-industry landscape. Founded in 2016 and already facing challenges because of a Cinema Law that ignores the financial responsibilities of this type of body, the Center boasts “the complete support” of the local government, with plans to introduce fiscal incentives for film production in Moldova.

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Cineuropa: What’s the biggest challenge that the Moldovan National Film Center faces in 2017?
Valeriu Jereghi: The affirmation of Moldovan cinema in the European cinema landscape. International co-productions will help us catch up with the present-day development of the global film industry.

When do you plan to organise the first competition for projects to be financially supported by the Center? What is the amount that the Center has earmarked for this support?
In the spring of 2017, the first competition will be announced for projects made by Moldovan production companies. The Moldovan National Film Center is a newly founded institution, and we are now adapting ourselves to the legislation and regulations of other similar institutions in Europe, such as those from Romania, France and Estonia. The amount to be given out is a modest one, but €300,000 is still an important sum for a call to re-launch our national cinema.

The Moldovan Film Center and its Romanian counterpart signed an institutional partnership last year. What do you expect from this partnership in 2017?
We place great hopes in the signing of this partnership because it will help to develop the film industry in both countries through international co-productions. The partnership covers the entire sphere of activities undertaken by the two institutions: mutual support in terms of international actions, but also cooperation for improved film distribution in both territories and implementation of policies that would create a common distribution space.

Besides Romania, which other European countries are you eyeing in order to establish closer relationships?
In March, we will sign a partnership with the French CNC. We have also approached other European countries. International cooperation is of paramount importance for us.

Besides financial support for original films made in Moldova, what other types of action are important now for the Center?
We will soon start contacting international experts in order to change the Moldovan Cinema Law, as it needs to be on the same page as similar laws in other countries. In order to attract co-productions, we are determined to introduce cash-rebate fiscal incentives, such as those in Georgia, Estonia, France and so on, for cinema investments and film crews that will shoot films in the Republic of Moldova. We are also aware of the necessity to urgently create a cinema fund, without which the development of the local film industry would be difficult. We now have the complete support of the Ministry of Culture and of the Government of the Republic of Moldova.