Film producers that took advantage of the Film Tax Incentive raised 11.3 million euros from Lithuanian companies for film production in 2020, according to the Lithuanian Film Centre.

"This is the largest amount received since the introduction of the scheme," it said in a press release.

International film producers spent almost 27 million euros in Lithuania last year, up from 15 million euros in 2019.

The number of funded films almost doubled over the year.

"In 2020, 58 new films received funding, of these 37 were domestic, 9 co-productions and 12 foreign productions," the center said.

Most investments in 2020 went to Swedish crime series. With One Eye Open, directed by Lisa Farzaneh and Jesper W. Nielsen, received 1.4 million euros, and The Truth Will Out, directed by Kristian Petri and Daniel di Grado, got 1.1 million euros.

The Lithuanian Film Centre noted that the tax incentive is becoming more popular among domestic film producers, too.

"Through the whole time the incentive has been in place, domestic films have received 5.9 million euros in investment, almost half of the whole sum, 2.5 million euros, was received in 2020," it said.

A total of 35.6 million euros were raised for film production under the scheme between 2014 and 2020, according to the press release.

Introduced in 2014, the scheme is aimed at creating favorable conditions for local and foreign filmmakers in Lithuania and encouraging businesses to donate funds for film production and thus reduce their payable corporate income tax.

Film producers feared huge losses when all film production in Lithuania was halted after the country was placed under the first lockdown in March 2020.

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