Germany

[DE] ARD Increases its Contributions to Film Industry Funding

IRIS 2004-6:1/20

Caroline Hilger

Saarbrücken

In line with the announcement made in the run-up to the re-enactment of the Film Support Act (FFG) as amended, the revised version of which came into effect as early as 1 January 2004 (see IRIS 2004-1: 10 and IRIS 2003-5: 14), the directors of the Public Service Broadcasting Union of the Federal Republic of Germany (ARD) at a meeting on 31 March 2004 in Saarbrücken, decided to increase the funding paid to the German film industry. The directors gave their consent to the conclusion of the 8 Film and Television Convention with the Film Support Authority (FFA) in accordance with § 67, Paragraph 1, Section 1, FFG. The Convention stipulates that, by 2008, ARD will be giving support to cinema and television films in the form of resources and cash payments worth a total of EUR 5.5 million annually. The funding from the Broadcasting Union will subsidise specific film projects, not the film producers directly. A subsidy unrelated to any particular project, funded by licence fees, would not be permissible either from the standpoint of the Commission for Notification of Financial Requirements of public broadcasters (KEF), or from the standpoint of the broadcasting directors themselves. Therefore, in the view of the KEF, it is only possible to use income from fees to fund films if, at the same time, assistance is afforded in the fulfilment of the programming remit.