If the stage of development of the project does not allow for submission of financial support application and the Applicant needs confirmation that the project meets the criteria of the qualification test, they may apply for the certificate. The certificate confirms the fulfillment of the qualification test criteria, but does not guarantee the allocation of funds. It is not necessary to obtain a certificate before applying for financial support. You can apply for a certificate at any time of the year.

In order to obtain a certificate:

1. Register on the website wnioski.pisf.pl

2. Complete the application, which includes, inter alia:

• company name, contact details, Applicant’s registration documents, genre and type of audiovisual work, names of its creators;
• estimated amount of financial support;

and attach a script of an audiovisual work.

3. Complete the qualification test, which is an attachment to the certificate application
The test should specify the scope in which the audiovisual work:

•  uses Polish or European cultural heritage;
• locates the action on the territory of Poland;
• is produced on the territory of Poland;
• ensures participation in the audiovisual production of Polish employees, co-workers or entities providing services for audiovisual production;
• uses Polish film infrastructure..

4. In order to pass the qualification test positively, the audiovisual work must obtain at least 51% of the points.

5. The application is verified within 28 calendar days from the date of submission.

6. After positive verification, the Institute issues a Certificate valid for 4 years.

An application for support can be submitted regardless of holding the Certificate. An application for financial support may be submitted no earlier than 12 months before the start of the work to be covered by financial support and no later than before the start of this work. The applicant is obliged to start works covered by financial support not later than 12 months from the date of submitting the application.When submitting the application, the Applicant must have documented financing of at least 75% of the costs of the work to be covered by the financial support and at least 75% of the total funding.

Applications are reviewed in the order in which they are submitted until the funds allocated for support in a given year have been depleted.

In order to get support you should:

1. Register on the website: wnioski.pisf.pl and fill out the application, which contains the data of the Applicant and co-producers and detailed information about the audiovisual work with the number of points obtained in the qualification test and attachments.

2. Pay the application fee in the amount of 0.05% of the value of the requested support, but not more than PLN 1000, to the bank account of the Institute.

3. In the case of depletion of funds allocated for support in a given year, the Institute informs the Applicant in writing about non-examination of the application due to the depletion of funds for a given year. In this case, the Institute will refund the application fee. The Institute publishes a list of submitted applications and creates a reserve list of applications, which will be considered in case of appearance of additional funds.

4. The application is reviewed by the Institute within 28 calendar days from the date of submission.

a) In the case of deficiencies or errors in the application, the Institute returns it with information about deficiencies or errors and the possibility of re-submission.

b) In the event that the Institute finds the cost estimate inadequate to the script and project outlines, PISF presents the Applicant with comments to the cost estimate and calls for its improvement until the indicated day no longer than 60 days. In the absence of such improvement, the Institute shall within 14 days set the maximum amount of a given eligible cost (or eligible costs) and submit it to the Applicant in a written form. In such cases, the deadline for examining the application (28 days) runs from the day the Applicant submits a modified cost estimate or the day the Institute presents the maximum amount of the eligible cost.

5. Within 28 calendar days from the date of notifying the Applicant about granting financial support, the Institute concludes an agreement for financial support with the Applicant (Beneficiary). Director of the Institute may, at the request of the Applicant, extend the deadline for concluding the agreement for financial support, but not longer than 3 months.

6. The Beneficiary concludes an agreement on opening and maintaining an escrow account in Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego.

7. The Institute transfers the funds specified in the contract to an escrow account referred to in item 6 above.

8. The commencement of works covered by the support takes place on the date specified in the contract. If the works are not commenced within 3 months from the date of commencement of works specified in the contract, the Institute may withdraw from the contract. After the withdrawal from the contract, the Applicant may resubmit the application for the same work only once.

9. Polish eligible costs should be borne during the period of works covered by the support indicated in the schedule. Pursuant to the Act, work should commence no earlier than on the date of submitting the application.

10. After completing the work covered by the support, the Beneficiary presents the final report on production with attachments. The report contains, among others, current qualifying test, list of all Polish eligible costs incurred, film crew list and information on the number of shooting days and / or post-production days.

11. In the period from the date of signing the contract to the date of completing the verification of the final report, the Institute may audit the Beneficiary in order to determine whether the works specified in the production schedule are carried out in a timely manner. The audit is carried out by employees of the Institute or an audit firm from a list established by the Institute. If the Beneficiary does not fulfill the obligations under the Act on supporting audiovisual production or contract, the Director of the Institute issues post-audit recommendations to remove irregularities or provide explanations.

12. The audit may also verify whether the information contained in the submitted Report and attachments is reliable. In this case, the period of verification of the Report runs from the date of completing the inspection, which may not last longer than 2 months.

13. The final report is reviewed by the Institute within 90 days from the date of submitting a complete report at the Institute and determines whether the work covered by the support was carried out in accordance with the contract, and the economic and financial opinion indicates whether the costs presented in the report constitute Polish eligible costs.

14. Economic and financial opinion is prepared by an audit firm from a list established by the Institute.

15. The Institute's Director shall inform the Beneficiary in writing of the date of the end of the verification and its result.

16. A positively verified report results in the Institute's release of funds on the escrow account referred to in p. 6 above.