31/01/2006

In Poland —a country which has to deal with serious weaknesses in terms of culture financing—, the involvement of public and private TV channels in crucial for the cinema. Public television is so far the main contributor: from 1995 to 2005, TVP brought over 32.5 million euros to film production, which represents an average input of €3.25M per year —little less than state-aids.
Since 1965, TVP produced or co-produced nearly 400 films, including 22 in 2004 and 28 in 2005 (13 of which were amongst the 21 contestants for the Golden Lions at the 2005 Gdynia Film Festival). TVP allowed a great range of movies to come to life —light comedies as well as hightly artistic projects, low-budget films as well as big productions.

In 2000, within the ambit of the 'Pokolenie 2000' (Generation 2000) scheme, TVP started funding first features by young authors such as Maciej Pieprzyca (Inferno), Artur Urbański (Bellissima), Łukasz Barczyk (Patrzę na ciebie, Marysiu, litt. 'I am looking at you, Mary'), Marek Lechki (Moje miasto, 'My town'). The sums granted to beginners range from 10,000 to 50,000 euros, but the support also consists in material and artistic assistance, promotion and broadcasting on TVP.
However, co-producing a project in collaboration with TVP is often a little hectic. Producers complain of the unacceptable delay with which TVP complies with its contractual financial obligations. For instance, the producers of Persona non grata by Krzysztof Zanussi, Kochankowie roku tygrysa ('the lovers of the year of the tiger') by Jacek Bromski and Masz na imię Justyna ('your name is Justine') by Franco de Pena, had to complete their projects without a zloty from TVP. This nonchalant behaviour of TVP also has consequences in terms of institutional support, for the National production agency (attached to the Ministry of Culture – liquidated since the new law, read the article) only funded producers once their getting money from other investors (including TVP) was confirmed. Thus, Polish producers had to walk on thin ice regarding a major issue for all producers everywhere in Europe, money.