The Finnish Film Foundation will receive $6.7 million (Euro 5m) of state funding in addition to the 30% increase in production funding it received following last year's conflict with the industry. The new money was announced today (March 31) as part of a package to support the Finnish economy.

Stefan Wallin, the Culture and Sports Minister, says the Finnish government wants to avoid job cuts in the industry and retain 'the level of know-how'. It has allocated $1.6 million (Euro 1.2m) for feature film projects, $1.3 million (Euro 1m) for TV drama, and $1.1 million (Euro 800,000) for documentaries and shorts.

Wallin said that the Foundation should consider criteria outside of its normal remit, which covers areas including content and box office potential, when allocating the moneyto avoid job cuts in the film and TV industries.

The minister confirmed that another $2.7 million (Euro 2m) from the Ministry of Education's package will be released later this spring, for modernisation and digitisation of Finnish movie theatres.

The funds come months after Finnish film producers went on strike claiming the government had not kept its promise to raise the film budget. The dispute, which started in September, ended after three months when $2.7 million (Euro 2m) from the lottery funds was earmarked for cinema. Including the 2009 boost, production finance has now reached $23.9 million (Euro 18m).

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