12/06/2007

Since the end of May, Lithuania has become the thirty-third member state of Eurimages, the Council of Europe’s support fund for the co-production, distribution and exhibition of European cinematic works.

The two other Baltic countries, Latvia and Estonia, joined Eurimages respectively in January 2002 and January 2004.

Lithuania’s representative on the Board of Eurimages is filmmaker Audrius Stonys, also a member of the Lithuanian Filmmakers Union, and his substitute is established producer Uljana Kim, member of the Lithuanian Association of Independent Producers.

“This is a wonderful possibility for all Lithuanian producers to apply for Eurimages because the entire Lithuanian film industry has very little public financial support (€1.8m a year) and no support from broadcasters. Being part of the MEDIA Programme and now Eurimages is essential for us producers in making our projects,” said Kim.

Although the largest of the three Baltic nations, Lithuania is the smallest in terms of feature film production. Only three feature films were made in 2006, including Kristijonas Vildžiūnas production You am I, which was produced by Kim and screened in Un Certain Regard at Cannes 2006.