22/05/2013 - European filmmakers presented their petition on the exclusion of culture and film services from the EU-US trade discussions to the Commissioner of Culture

With their claim that The cultural exception is non-negotiable!, Belgian directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne have since April collected more than 5,000 signatures from European film-makers to protest against the European Commission's that cultural and audiovisual services might be included in the free trade agreement between the EU and the US.  Besides acclaimed European filmmakers such as Ken Loach, Pedro Almodovar, Michael Haneke, Cristian Mungui, Aki Kaurismäki, Jean-Jacques Beneix, Thomas Vinterberg, Isabel Coixet, Bertrand Tavernier and Stephen Frears, at a CNC conference in Cannes also the American producer and Academy Award winner Harvey Weinstein (photo) expressed his solidarity with European filmmakers and his strong attachment to cultural diversity.

“This petition was delivered to the Commissioner in charge of Culture, Androulla Vassilou, in presence of Doris Pack and Henri Weber, as well as many European filmmakers, among them Costa Gavras, Michel Hazanavicius and Jaime Rosales," said the Dardenne brothers. “The Commission’s present position, which maintains audiovisual services - even though assorted with restrictions - in the mandate, is not acceptable. Only an explicit exclusion would really secure the capacity of member states and the European Union to develop for the future an ambitious cultural policy including the new actors on internet."

This action is urgent because the European Parliament has to vote on the resolution on May 23. The appeal of the European filmmakers reads as follows: "Please vote for the exclusion, please save culture!"