Sweden

[SE] Legal Basis for Film Support

IRIS 2006-1:1/41

Julia Maus

Institute of European Media Law (EMR), Saarbrücken/Brussels

In Sweden, film support in the form of financial aid and other measures is managed by the Swedish Film Institute, which collects and distributes funds for the production, sale and public exhibition of Swedish films on the basis of the 2006 Film Agreement.

The Swedish Film Institute supports the 19 resource centres and regional production centres, the latter with the aim of strengthening the production of feature films in the four Swedish regions ( Norrbotten , Skåne , Stockholm-Mälardalen and Västra Götaland ).

The work of the resource centres includes film education, film screening, support of young filmmakers and the development and co-ordination of cultural film activities in Sweden.

While the support for the regional production centres is expressly provided for in paragraphs 25(3), 28 and 31 of the 2006 Film Agreement, there are no explicit provisions governing support for the resource centres.

The Film Agreement has been concluded between the state and various other parties, which were originally only the cinema operators but since 1992 have also included the television companies. The video industry acceded in the 1980s but left again in 1998. The agreement forms the basis of Swedish film policy, irrespective of the party in government.

The present agreement came into force on 1 January 2006 and runs until 31 December 2010.