The IFC will receive nearly $4m extra investment annually if proposals are passed by Parliament.

The Icelandic Film Centre (IFC) is to benefit from a government plan to create jobs and stimulate investment, presented by the Icelandic Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs and the deputy leaders of the coalition parties.

According to the proposition, which will soon be submitted to Parliament, the IFC will receive an annual $3.9 million (ISK 470 million) for  three years on top of $1.6 million (ISK 200 million) included in the 2011 agreement between the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture and the film industry, which increased funding for cinema from $3.9 million (ISK 500 million) to $5.3 million (ISK 700 million) in 2015.

“If this investment scheme passes Parliament, we will be back on track – even a little better than before the financial crash in 2008, even if we still suffer from a low currency rate,” said IFC MD Laufey Gudjónsdóttir.

After nine Icelandic feature film productions in 2010 and eight in 2011, just three were launched this year.

These included:

  • Baltasar Kormákur’s The Deep (which was shot in 2010);
  • cinematographer-turned-director Óskar Axelsson’s feature debut, Black’s Game (from 2011);
  • Reynir Lyngdal’s Frost.

There was also Latvian-Icelandic co-production Mona, from Latvian director Inara Kolmane.

2013 will feature at least three new titles:

  • Ágúst Gudmundsson’s Spooks and Spirits (Ófeigur gengur aftur);
  • Benedikt Erlingsson’s Horses – A Love Story (Hross um oss);
  • Ragnar Bragason’s Metalhead (Málmhaus).

Dagur Kári’s Rocket Man, which will shoot for Kormákur’s BlueEyes Productions from January, may also be released next year.

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