The State Treasury and the Jerusalem Foundation are backing a $2m fund to promote film-making in Jerusalem, as part of the general effort the refresh the image of Israel's capital city.

Rennen Schorr, the head of the Sam Spiegel School for Cinema and Television in Jerusalem, one of the more active personalities in Israeli film, has put the new fund together, with the distinct purpose of attracting more filmmakers to Jerusalem, one of the fund's conditions being that at least half of each project they will be involved with, has to be shot in Jerusalem.

Today, according to Schorr, most of the industry is based in the Tel Aviv area and working there. The new fund's purpose is to restore the balance and support vigorous projects that will dust off the old image of the city in favor of a new, fancier, more attractive one.

The fund is not dependent on the Israeli Film Commission, nor does it get any money from it at the present time (the other two film funds, acting under the Commission's umbrella, operate on a $10m budget). However, in future, they may be entitled, if they stick around for at least two years, to ask the Film Commission for additional subventions.

Schorr, also a director, who is now about to complete his second feature film, will be the president and for the time being also the director of the fund though, he says, he has no intention of holding on to the executive position, and is looking for someone to take over the day by day responsibilities as soon as possible.

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