Exclusive: Kazakhstan to set up Film Commission

Kazakhstan is putting together a film commission team, within its new national film centre, Kazakh Cinema, with the intention of attracting international projects to the country.

Kazakhstan passed a cinema law earlier this year, which established the film centre and ratified a new 30% tax rebate for projects that choose to shoot in the country. “This is a great incentive for international producers who can be reimbursed up to 30% of their expenses when they film here,” enthused Anna Katchko, chief advisor to the Board of Directors at Kazakh Cinema (full title State Center for Support of National Cinema) to KFTV.

Any project looking to access the rebate needs to spend about $850,000 in Kazakhastan. There is also an application process based on specific criteria, which will be assessed by government officials.

“We are currently assembling a team within Kazakh Cinema that will be the film commission, specialising in getting international productions to Kazhakstan and assisting them with the shoots,” added Katchko, who has already had conversations with leading production companies keen to film there.

To make the filming process even easier, productions that shoot for two weeks or less don’t even need a visa, and “those that shoot longer have a much smoother process than say five years ago,” assured Katchko.

Kazakhstan boasts an impressive array of landscapes to film in, including lakes, forests, canyons, mountains and the cosmopolitan city of Almaty. In recent years, Netflix’s series Marco Polo and Oscar nominated film Mongol, have shot in the country. Mongol producer Gulnara Sarsenova is head of Kazakh Cinema.