In a move that brightens the future of its cinema and lightens the load on SODEC, the Quebec government has injected another $10 million into the annual budget of the beleaguered funding agency, earmarking the entire amount for feature films.

Premier Jean Charest and Culture Minister Line Beauchamp made the announcement Monday at a press conference in Montreal.

‘We want to create a financing model to increase the amount of money available to finance Quebec films,’ says Beauchamp. The government estimates the new money will result in the production of 26 films and create 4,000 jobs. It boosts SODEC’s annual budget to $24 million from $14 million.

The announcement comes as welcome news to Quebec’s film community, which has been sounding the alarm bell about its future since June, when a number of projects by well-known Quebec filmmakers — among them Charles Binamé and Robert Lepage — were refused funding by Telefilm Canada.

‘It’s wonderful. It’s extraordinary. It’s almost doubling the available money for features,’ says Binamé (Séraphin: un homme et son péché, Maurice Richard), adding that it demonstrates Charest’s commitment to Quebec filmmaking. ‘This isn’t a one-shot deal. It’s sustained finding. They understand how important this industry is in this province.’

‘We are ecstatic,’ agrees SODEC spokeswoman Ann Champoux. ‘It’s wonderful. It means we can make more films.’

Quebec previously put an emergency injection of $10 million into SODEC, which permitted six feature films to go into production, including Adam’s Wall (Couzin Films), producer Roger Frappier’s Borderline and Rivard, produced by Aétios Productions and directed by Binamé.

Beauchamp also released a report on film financing by former Telefilm head François Macerola, which recommends more coproductions and creating a new private fund as a means of boosting Quebec production. Beauchamp has created two working groups to study Macerola’s recommendations.