CANNES 2006 Events / Czech Republic
"Parliament has killed national cinema"
Chaos has been reigning since yesterday on the Croisette, when posters were pasted at the Czech pavilion, stating: "The parliament and President Klaus have killed Czech cinema".
On Tuesday, May 23, Czech deputies passed a new law on cinema, which aims to increase public funding for national films from €2m to €12m, an amount that could have been used (according to a press release from the Czech Film Center) to foster co-productions with other countries.
The law that has been rejected plans to use 3% of tickets sold in theatres and revenue from the video and television sectors to support national films. Those responsible for voting against the law are private foreign broadcasters, with the press release hinting at suspicions of corruption.
As a sign of protest, the Czech pavilion on the Croisette ceased all activity today at 5 pm and will not open its doors until the festival is over. Even the Czech flag has been removed. The decision was made by Jana Cernik, director of the Czech Film Centre, which is co-financed by the Czech Producers Association.
(Translated from French)
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