03/10/2005

The Financial Law passed last week by the Council of Ministers and currently under examination by Parliament has proposed a cut to the Visual Arts Fund (FUS) of approximately 164m euro per year, for the next three years, which lowers FUS funding to less than 300m euro annually. If approved, cinema, which received an overall 84m euro per year, will receive little more than 50m euro under the new law.

“This figure is below the threshold of decency, if one considers that a country like France invests approximately ten times that amount in its film industry," reads a press release issued by ANICA (Italian Association of Cinematographic Audiovisual and Multimedia Industries) and API (Association of Independent Producers). "The FUS cut destroys any and all potential growth and recovery for industry companies, which have already been suffering serious financial difficulties for some time, and will have grave repercussions in the job market." The alarm has also been sounded by AGIS, an umbrella group for all the associations and organizations that work in the entertainment industry: "Between cuts to [FUS] and a reduction in the quota of Lotto proceeds allocated to show business, the Italian entertainment industry is going to come up against, with the recently presented Financial Law, a cut in public resources of at least 40%," affirmed President Alberto Francesconi. "If Parliament were to approve such a massive cut,” continues the AGIS President, “a large number of companies that work within various sectors of the industry would simply be pushed out of the market, creating profoundly negative consequences for approximately 200,000 industry workers. Over the last several months, we have drawn up a realistic and innovative reform of the FUS that we are about to present and that, if accepted, will simultaneously allow us to obtain an adequate increase of the FUS and a significant reduction of the state’s financial commitment."

(Translated from Italian)