24/10/2005

At the end of last week, the government decided not to cut state aid to the Kuratorium of new German films, a decision welcomed with great relief by the directors' association, BVR (Bundesverband Regie). The measure, suggested by the Finance ministers of all German states, would indeed have seriously endangered this institution which is one of the most active in terms of renewing the 7th art (read the article). Federal funding will nevertheless be reduced by 5% every year for three years.

Although this state aid is only worth a million euros, it helps the Kuratorium play a big role in promoting new talent. It also has the great advantage of allowing directors themselves to ask for funding, since in Germany this prerogative usually belongs to the producer, which leads certain directors to become their own producers and therefore affects their artistic independence.

The debate raised by BVR around these political decisions has allowed not the saving of the Kuratorium but also an insistence that the federal authorities play a role in all cultural matters. Furthermore, it underlined the defects of the current promotion schemes, focused on the economic aspects of film production. By defending the Kuratorium, the German directors wished to attract the attention of the government and the European Union on the fact that 'the best promotion is anything that encourages what is really at the heart of films: the spirit of the artist'.

(Translated from French)