The European Audiovisual Observatory 'defines' future prospects
The European Audiovisual Observatory, created in 1992 in order to collect and publish all kinds of (legal, statistical, etc.) information on the European film industry (in 35 countries) took the Cannes Film Festival as an opportunity to meet and discuss 'partnering Europe' as well as the definition of 'European' cinema and its implication on public funding.
On the 15th of May, while the International Film Market was most active, the European Audiovisual Observator's conference took place and focused on two themes, the 'Access to the European Market for Non-European Films' —for the European market (1.2 billion admissions in 2004) is potentially very welcoming for non-European non-North American films— and the determination of the 'origin' of a production in its relation to public funding (which represents more than a billion euros in all 35 countries every year).
It is indeed crucial to define the European 'origin'(rather than 'nationality') of a film, mainly so as to determine whether this film is eligible for certain support systems (direct and indirect) —a hot debate sparked by such cases as that of A Very Long Engagement. It appears that the pool of criteria most institutions, such as Eurimages and the Media Plus Programme, apply is a combination of two approaches : the 'open definition' chosen by the EC in the Television Without Frontiers directive, and the 'point system' defined by the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production of the Council of Europe guaranteeing co-productions the same access to state aids as national films (ratified by 35 countries).
What is clear is that the support-giving country is only one criterium, for cinema does not only have economic implications but also cultural ones, therefore content and expression criteria mingle with financial ones.
These two presentations were followed by a lively in-depth panel discussion on the above-mentioned definition issue chaired by Serge Siritzky (Editor-in-Chief of Ecran total) and attended by Jean-Eric de Cockborne (European Commission), Jonathan Davis, (UK Film Council), Enric Enrich (Enrich Advocats), and Philippe Kern (EFCA).
Both presentations can be found on www.obs.coe.int.
(Translated from French)
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