11/01/2010

The Federation of European Film Directors (FERA) – representing 36 professionals’ organisations in 29 countries – will host a conference at the European Parliament in Brussels, on January 28, entitled “Imagining Cinema in the Digital Age: Creativity and New Way of Distribution”.

FERA wants to enhance the value of European directors’ unique perspective and proposition as films’ creators. To achieve this, they need the support of the European institutions to foster the broadest distribution of European films possible on all media and to enhance the remuneration of audiovisual authors for all commercial exploitation of their works.

The European Single Market pursued by the Commission should not only be built for consumers but also for creators. Today, this single market does not exist for audiovisual authors: directors whose works are broadcasted in countries others than where the work originated from, cannot rely on a harmonised and transparent remuneration system which will ensure that they are fairly remunerated. FERA’s objective aims at underlying the will of European directors to see their works widely available on many platforms across Europe while at the same time emphasising the need for them to be fairly remunerated for the online exploitations of their works.

In this context, FERA would like to promote the particular voice of directors and a dialogue at European and national levels on cinema and cultural policies, in particular on the Creative Content in the Digital Age.

FERA believes that a European public debate on this issue will encourage a permanent dialogue between European directors, other film professionals, citizens and the institutions of the EU, empowering European directors, other film professionals and citizens as regards EU audiovisual policy and its impact at national level, and ensuring appropriate follow up of their opinions by the EU institutions.

The conference is open to professionals of the Media and Audiovisual industry, Cultural and Audiovisual Organisations, Institutional and political representatives.