Film meets government
"Not only money but, above all, reforms are necessary, and to achieve them, we must work together", said Minister of Culture Francesco Rutelli in a meeting yesterday with various film associations.
The Minister guaranteed a Cultural-Economic Inter-Ministerial Commission and a permanent discussion table, to maintain a direct connection between the associations and the Ministry. The associations asked that the partial reintegration (€50m) of the FUS, Visual Arts Fund (whose budget was cut by the preceding government by 35%, passing from €464m to €300m), be accompanied by the funds for the cultural industry that are as independent as possible from the FUS and finance laws. The criteria of resource allocation among the various sectors will not be those established under the institutional FUS law, according to Rutelli, but will take into consideration "selectivity, meritocracy and impartiality".
During the meeting, Rutelli also spoke of a reform of the film law, the fight against piracy and tax exemption policies. The request put forth by ANICA (Italian Association of Cinematographic Audiovisual and Multimedia Industries) is to set the VAT at 4%, as is done in the publishing sector, and to re-examine IRAP (regional production) taxation for industry companies.
(Translated from Italian)
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