Film
There are three main institutions that shape and implement Lithuanian film policy: the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, the Film Policy Council and the Lithuanian Film Centre.
While shaping and implementing the national cultural policy in the field of cinema, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania performs the following functions laid down in the Law on Cinema: 1) forms national film policy and prepares drafts of laws and other legal acts in the field of cinema; 2) analyses the trends of cinema development in the Republic of Lithuania and in foreign countries, initiates and drafts strategic planning documents in the field of cinema (concepts, strategies, programmes), and carries out the monitoring of implementation of these documents; 3) upon the assignment of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania or the Prime Minister, represents the Republic of Lithuania in foreign countries or international organisations; within its competence and in accordance with the established procedure maintains contacts with respective foreign institutions and international organisations and, in accordance with the procedure provided for by the Republic of Lithuania Law on International Treaties, concludes and implements the international treaties; 4) coordinates and controls the activities of the Lithuanian Film Centre under the Ministry of Culture.
The Ministry of Culture is consulted by the Film Policy Council. The Council is a collegiate and advisory institution under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, dealing with the issues of the Lithuanian film policy. Its goal is to address the key film policy issues and provide the Minister of Culture with proposals and conclusions concerning the strategic planning and measures of strengthening the field of cinema, development programmes and their aims and reached outcomes, state funding, preservation of film heritage, the drafting and/or improvement of legal acts governing the field of cinema, as well as other film related issues pointed out by the Minister of Culture.
The Lithuanian Film Centre is a state institution established in 2012 under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania. The functions of the Film Centre are defined by the amendment on the Law on Film (2002) of 2011. According to the law, the Film Centre: 1) participates in the formation of State film policy; 2) implements State film policy and exercises the functions entrusted thereto in accordance with the Law and other legal acts; 3) organises film project tenders for State funding; 4) awards grants to film creators; 5) carries out activities of cinema education and dissemination of film culture; 6) collects and publishes information and statistics on Lithuanian cinema; 7) performs indexation of films according to the age limit of the audience for films intended to be shown in cinemas; 8) supervises the compliance of legal and natural persons with the requirements for the public showing of cinema and the procedure for registration of films in the Film Register; 9) collects film heritage and ensures its accessibility.
According to the data of Lithuanian Film Centre, in 2025, in the Lithuanian film industry there have been working 44 film production companies, 11 film production service companies, 11 professional associations, 3 local film offices, 18 film distributors, 21 cinemas, and 8 other companies that provide services of post-production, film montage, casting, camera rental, search for filming locations, sound recording and subtitling. Lithuanian and foreign films are featured in 13 Lithuanian film festivals and events.
Table 20: Facts and figures of the Lithuanian film industry 2015–2024
|
Year Indicators |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
Average admissions per capita |
1.13 |
1.29 |
1.44 |
1.53 |
1.48 |
0.55 |
0.48 |
1.06 |
1.2 |
1.26 |
|
Total number of admissions* |
3 330 518 |
3 668 370 |
4 060 159 |
4 265 414 |
4 141 900 |
1 533 084 |
1 337 598 |
2 994 844 |
3 441 727 |
3 641 122 |
|
Gross Box Office (in EUR) |
15 391 806 |
17 724 516 |
20 392 625 |
22 444 111 |
22 495 265 |
8 475 003 |
7 754 385 |
18 106 268 |
21 422 715 |
23 534 512 |
|
Lithuanian films gross box office (in EUR) |
2 126 232 |
3 463 809 |
4 536 088 |
6 250 538 |
4 417 603 |
1 981 467 |
489 947 |
3 687 217 |
3 231 097 |
5 195 988 |
|
Average ticket price (in EUR) |
4.62 |
4.83 |
5.00 |
5.26 |
5.43 |
5.53 |
5.80 |
6.05 |
6.23 |
6.46 |
|
Total number of cinemas |
32 |
29 |
27 |
28 |
26 |
25 |
27 |
22 |
22 |
21 |
|
Domestic films market share, % |
13.81 |
19.50 |
21.47 |
27.9 |
19.64 |
21.87 |
6.17 |
19.3 |
14.7 |
20.54 |
|
European films market share, % |
17.80 |
8.50 |
14.00 |
11.8 |
18.12 |
23.73 |
16.39 |
11.77 |
13.45 |
12.12 |
|
US films market share, % |
65.48 |
71.50 |
64.62 |
58.7 |
57.74 |
52.21 |
76.65 |
67.62 |
65.96 |
64.50 |
|
Other countries films market share, % |
2.91 |
0.50 |
0.94 |
1.6 |
4.91 |
2.19 |
0.8 |
1.31 |
5.89 |
2.85 |
|
Total number of national premieres |
10 |
13 |
11 |
22 |
27 |
13 |
11 |
26 |
33 |
24 |
|
Total number of national feature films produced |
11 |
21 |
15 |
28 |
19 |
14 |
15 |
18 |
17 |
18 |
|
Total number of films distributed |
290 |
291 |
309 |
356 |
383 |
271 |
251 |
341 |
402 |
394 |
Source: Lithuanian Film Centre
* Excluding festival admissions
After the restoration of independence in 1990, the Lithuanian film industry was one of the smallest in Europe. During the first decade of independence, only 25 domestic feature films were created, while during the second and third decades, about 250 films were created. The situation changed in 2012 with the establishment of the Lithuanian Film Centre, which became the main cinema financing institution.
Table 21: Total budget of the Lithuanian Film Centre in 2015–2024
|
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
|
Budget of Lithuanian Film Centre (in EUR) |
3 078 652 |
3 524 850 |
4 619 000 |
6 423 000 |
6 411 000 |
13 058 350
|
7 240 509
|
8 298 000
|
8 561 000 |
11 071 000 |
Source: Lithuanian Film Centre
A positive impact on the Lithuanian film industry was made by the Film Tax Incentive that came into effect in January 2014 as a new policy measure to foster local and foreign film production in Lithuania. The incentive is regulated by Article 172 of the Lithuanian Law on Corporate Income Tax (2001), which supplements the Law with the provision about the reduction of taxable income due to funds granted free of charge for the production of a film or a part thereof (see chapter 4.1.4). The incentive is available for feature films, TV films, documentaries and animated films. The scheme involves a foreign production company, a Lithuanian production company, a local business company providing financial support for the production and the Lithuanian Film Centre that administers the scheme. The foreign production company can save up to 30 % of its Lithuanian production costs, while the local business is motivated to invest in film production by a profit tax break.
In the period of 2014-2024, 561 productions have benefited from the Lithuanian Film Tax Incentive by getting a total of EUR 107.8 million in investment for film production. The scheme was used by 111 foreign films, 106 co-productions, and 344 national films. Investments for film production were granted by 368 local companies in amounts ranging from 1000 to over 1.6 million euros. In 2024, Lithuanian business companies invested more than 18 million euros through this scheme.
After these two political steps – the establishment of the Lithuanian Film Centre in 2012 and the introduction of the tax incentive in 2014 – the production of domestic films increased in Lithuania by almost 50 per cent compared to the period of 2009–2011. However, in 2020 and 2021, the number of films made has decreased due to the constraints related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Table 22: Domestics Films produced in 2011–2024
|
Year Genre |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
Feature films |
2 |
4 |
11 |
8 |
11 |
21 |
15 |
21 |
17 |
11 |
13 |
12 |
16 |
11 |
|
Documentary |
9 |
18 |
17 |
18 |
11 |
18 |
5 |
22 |
16 |
17 |
15 |
24 |
18 |
9 |
|
Short films |
19 |
1 |
5 |
7 |
9 |
9 |
14 |
7 |
12 |
5 |
10 |
10 |
8 |
10 |
|
Animations |
8 |
10 |
7 |
7 |
4 |
10 |
7 |
4 |
7 |
1 |
5 |
9 |
2 |
5 |
|
Total |
38 |
33 |
40 |
40 |
35 |
58 |
41 |
54 |
52 |
34 |
43 |
55 |
44 |
35 |
Source: Lithuanian Film Centre
Radio and Television
According to the data of the Lithuanian Radio and Television Commission, in 2025, there were 127 TV and radio companies in Lithuania: 26 broadcast TV programmes, 3 of them broadcast TV online, 12 also re-broadcast TV, and 2 also broadcast radio programmes; 37 companies broadcast only radio; 34 companies re-broadcast TV, 4 of them also re-broadcast radio; 2 companies broadcast on the Internet only; 8 companies provide on-demand audiovisual media services only; 19 companies provided on-demand audiovisual media services using video-sharing platforms (see chapter 2.5.3 for more about media policy and content).
Till 2023, the financial support for domestic programmes of radio, television and other sectors of the Lithuanian audiovisual industry was provided through the Press, Radio and Television Support Foundation. The Foundation implemented 6 funding programmes, 2 of which were related to the radio and TV. In 2024, the Press, Radio and Television Support Foundation was abolished, and its function was overtaken by the new Media Support Fund. The newly established Fund provides state support through four programs: 1) cultural media and cultural periodicals; 2) regional media; 3) news, investigative, and educational journalism; 4) media in national minority languages and media for the Lithuanian diaspora. In 2024, the Media Support Fund had financed 329 projects and allocated EUR 5 931 380.
Table 23: Fund allocation of the Press, Radio and Television Support Foundation in 2017–2023
|
Year
Programme |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
Number of funded projects/ Amount allocated, in EUR |
Number of funded projects/ Amount allocated, in EUR |
Number of funded projects/ Amount allocated, in EUR |
Number of funded projects/ Amount allocated, in EUR |
Number of funded projects/ Amount allocated, in EUR |
Number of funded projects/ Amount allocated, in EUR |
Number of funded projects/ Amount allocated, in EUR |
|
|
National radio and television broadcasting |
34 / 403 081 |
33 / 394 740 |
37 / 406 980 |
41 / 411 000 |
43 / 404 500 |
43 / 482 485 |
32 / 470 100 |
|
Regional radio and television broadcasting |
40 / 206000 |
39 / 248 500 |
40 / 204 000 |
50 / 201 300 |
46 / 206 180 |
36 / 253 796 |
33 / 239 000 |
|
Total |
74 / 609 081 |
72 / 643 240 |
77 / 610 980 |
91 / 612 300 |
89 / 610 680 |
79 / 736 281 |
65 / 709 100 |
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