Iceland ups film funding by 25%

By ERICH BOEHM

REYKJAVIK, Iceland - The budget of the Icelandic Film Fund has been upped 25% to $2.13 million for 1997, the first increase in four years. The funding was approved by the Althingi, the Icelandic Parliament.

In previous years, the IFF has given grants to two or three films per year, such as Fridrik Thor Fridriksson's "Devil's Island," which outperformed "Independence Day" at the box office with 70,000 admissions in a nation of a mere 270,000.

The IFF indicated that a bigger budget did not necessarily mean more projects, but that possibly it would invest more money in individual productions.