The Israel Film Council run by the Ministry of Culture and Sport approved Oct. 3 funding for three regional film funds as part of a series of reforms led by Culture Minister Miri Regev. Two of the new funds are located in northern Israel, one to be run by the Nof Hagalil Culture Center through the Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts, the other by the Galilee Film Fund. The third will operate in the West Bank and will be run by the Samaria Community Center. Eight million Israeli shekels ($2.29 million) was allocated for the funds’ annual budget, but the amounts for each were not reported. Will the division be equitable or will the Samaria Community Center enjoy a preferential allocation by the right-wing government? According to the Ynet website, half the total budget, some 4.1 million shekels ($1.17 million), will go to the Samaria fund and the rest will be divided between the Galilee funds.
The new funds are part of a series of so-called reforms Regev instituted to increase state funding for cultural enterprises in the country’s southern and northern regions, as well as in ultra-Orthodox and non-Jewish communities.