Flanders Audiovisual Fund (VAF)

Overview

The Flanders Audiovisual Fund (Vlaams Audiovisueel Fonds, VAF) is the public funding body that supports audiovisual and games production in, and international co-productions with, Flanders. Set up by the Flemish government in 2002 and headquartered in Brussels, VAF operates three funds: VAF/Film Fund (fiction, animation, documentary, and experimental film across feature, medium-length, and short formats), VAF/Media Fund (series, podcasts, and digital media), and VAF/Game Fund (entertainment and serious games).

Belgium's linguistic division creates two parallel film funding systems: VAF for Flemish production and the Centre du Cinema et de l'Audiovisuel (CCA) for French-language Wallonian production. VAF holds structural co-production agreements with both the CCA and the Netherlands Film Fund, making cross-border co-production within the Low Countries administratively straightforward.

In 2024, VAF processed a record 714 applications for production support across the Film Fund and Media Fund combined, plus 84 applications for the Game Fund, also a record since its founding in 2012. The organization managed 1,174 total application dossiers in 2024, double the volume from ten years prior. VAF also ran 51 coaching trajectories, including 32 for Film Fund projects and 19 for Media Fund projects.

Funding Structure and Application Process

VAF's Film Fund co-finances individual films across fiction, animation, documentary, and experimental categories. Feature, medium-length, and short films are all eligible. For majority foreign co-productions, financing must be at least 50% complete or include a production support commitment from the lead territory's selective film fund. Selection is handled by 11 different commissions of external experts for Film Fund and Media Fund creation applications, plus a pitch committee for documentary and fiction.

VAF also allocates budget for professional training: scholarships, workshops, and partnerships in international training initiatives, primarily in scriptwriting, showrunning, directing, and producing. A modest research budget supports practical industry surveys and data collection.

The VAF memorandum for the 2024-2029 Flemish government term requests an additional EUR 3.25 million for the Film Fund (plus indexation of EUR 1.42 million on the creation dotatie), EUR 5 million for the Media Fund, and a doubling of the podcast budget from EUR 340,000. The memorandum also calls for structural consolidation of VAF's three separate management agreements into a single integrated audiovisual and game policy.

Belgian Tax Shelter

The Belgian Tax Shelter is a federal tax incentive administered by the FPS Finance, separate from VAF. It allows Belgian companies, or Belgian establishments of foreign companies, to invest in qualifying audiovisual works and receive a tax deduction. The system applies to Belgian productions and qualifying international co-productions with Belgium.

The mechanics work as follows: the investor deposits funds within 3 months of signing a framework contract with an accredited production company. The investor receives a temporary tax deduction of 310% of the sum deposited, limited to 150% of the expected tax value of the Tax Shelter certificate and capped at EUR 1,000,000 per year per investor. Once production is complete, the FPS Finance issues the final Tax Shelter certificate, and the definitive tax deduction is 203% of the certificate value, limited to the temporary exemption and capped at EUR 1,000,000 per year.

The tax value of the certificate equals 70% of qualifying direct production and exploitation expenses in the European Economic Area, capped at 10/9 of Belgian expenses. Belgian expenses must be at least 90% of the certificate value, with at least 70% in direct production costs and at most 30% in indirect costs. The total tax value of certificates for a single work cannot exceed EUR 15,000,000.

The producer pays the investor a return on sums deposited at Euribor + 4.5% (maximum 18 months). For the producer, the net Tax Shelter benefit after return on sums, commission, and insurance typically equals approximately 39.5% of Belgian expenses. The system was extended to video games in 2023.

Screen Flanders and Regional Economic Funds

Screen Flanders is the economic fund for audiovisual activities in the Flanders Region, separate from VAF's cultural funds. It provides financial support through its Economic Fund and operates the Flanders Film Commission. Screen Flanders has maintained an annual budget of approximately EUR 4.5 million in recent years, drawn from the Flemish government's economic rather than cultural budget.

Belgium offers three regional economic funds alongside the two cultural funds (VAF and CCA): Screen Flanders, Screen Brussels, and Wallimage. International producers can combine VAF cultural funding, Screen Flanders economic support, and the federal Tax Shelter within a single production's financing structure, provided the respective eligibility criteria are met.

International Co-Production

Flemish productions regularly co-produce with Dutch, French, German, and British partners. VAF's structural co-production agreements with the CCA (French-speaking Belgium) and the Netherlands Film Fund streamline co-production within the Low Countries. For international producers, the combination of VAF grants, Tax Shelter investment, VRT (Flemish public broadcaster) co-financing, and European MEDIA support creates the multi-source financing structures that fund most significant Flemish productions.

Flemish cinema has produced internationally recognized directors including Felix Van Groeningen (The Broken Circle Breakdown, Beautiful Boy, The Eight Mountains) and Nathalie Alvarez Mesen, whose work has achieved international distribution and festival recognition. VAF's development and production programs, combined with its relationship with VRT, provide the institutional infrastructure that supports Flemish film production from script through distribution.

What Filmmakers Should Know

For international co-productions with Flemish partners, VAF and the Belgian Tax Shelter together create substantial financial incentives. A production qualifying for both VAF cultural funding and Tax Shelter investment can access public grants plus private equity at favorable rates, with Belgian expenses generating approximately 39.5% net benefit through the Tax Shelter alone.

For Flemish filmmakers, VAF is the primary public funding relationship. The Fund's development and production programs, coaching trajectories, and relationship with VRT provide the institutional infrastructure for theatrical film careers in Flanders.

For game developers, the VAF/Game Fund supports both entertainment and serious games, with 55 of 84 applications in 2024 in the entertainment category. The Tax Shelter extension to video games in 2023 opened an additional financing pathway for game productions.

See Also

For the French-language Belgian film funding equivalent, see the Centre du Cinema et de l'Audiovisuel (CCA), which operates separately from VAF for Wallonian production. For the European Film Academy context, see EFA in this directory. Use the Indie Film Budget Calculator to model co-production financing structures combining VAF grants, Tax Shelter investment, and broadcaster pre-sales.