21/11/2005

A surprise initiative by deputies led on Friday to a vote, against the advice of the Government, for an amendment raising from 2% to 10 % the special tax on pornographic films which goes into the financial aid account for the film and audiovisual industry (COSIP). Representing 350 000 euros provisional budget for 2006, receipts from this tax will therefore rise to 1,75 million euros, but the deputies also enlarged the target for very violent films , a notion that is difficult to qualify according to the Minister for Culture, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, opposed to the adoption of this amendment which was nonetheless validated by the Senate. Violence in films was already the subject of a strong polemic with French cinema professionals in November 2002 with the Kriegel report (read article).

Over and above the vote on cinema and audiovisual credits for the 2006 budget for Culture, the parliamentarians also took decisions that will influence financing for the French film industry. They refused to remove the Soficas (finance companies for the cinema and audiovisual industry) from the list of the tax plan which sets a limit at 8000 euros from 2007 (see news). This decision greatly diminishes the attraction for investments and drains French production of 46 million euros per year. And funding acceptance for 2005 (investments 2006) was revealed with 15 Soficas retained. Head of the list are Soficinéma (5,5 M€), Cofimage (5,41 M€), NBPI (3,37 M€), Carrimages (3,07 M€), Postimages (3 M€) and Sogécinéma (2,74 M€), with Sofica specialists in independent production being given an advantage in the distribution of funds.

(Translated from French)