Germany’s State Minister for Culture and Media Bernd Neumann has secured an additional €10m for the DFFF incentive programme’s annual budget from next year, bringing the total available to domestic and international productions up to €70m.

The increase was granted by the Bundestag’s Budget Committee on Thursday (Nov 8) as part of a €100m boost for expenditure on culture in 2013, and comes just a month after the European Commission greenlit the DFFF for another three years to the end of 2015.

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Neumann’s eighth consecutive boost to the arts budget was applauded by Alexander Thies, board chairman of the German Producers Alliance.

“The fact that €10m of this is flowing to the DFFF is something that we producers naturally especially welcome because the DFFF is much more than just a mere financing instrument for us. It has also contributed decisively through the stimulation of international co-productions to the situation where we don’t have to shy away from a comparison with the world’s top production hubs.”

Uli Aselmann, chairman of the Alliance’s cinema section, added: “The DFFF has developed since its creation [in 2007] into an essential support for film production in Germany. But its tasks must also be developed further. The incorporation of VFX services and postproduction into the new DFFF guidelines are first improvements, which will make us fit for the future in this areas. Thus, this increase coming particularly now is so important for Germany as a production hub.”

Recent projects to have benefitted from the DFFF incentive include Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, Philipp Stölzl’s Der Medicus, Tony Pemberton’s Buddha’s Little Finger, Sherry Hormann’s 3096, Nadav Schirman’s Der grüne Prinz, Thomas Arslan’s Gold, Til Schweiger’s Kokowääh 2, and Denis Dercourt’s Zum Geburtstag.

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