France

[FR] Establishment of an “Images of Diversity” Fund

IRIS 2007-3:1/21

Amélie Blocman

Légipresse

On 8 November 2007, the Minister for Culture and Communication and the Minister with responsibility for the promotion of equal opportunities presented a communication to the Council of Ministers concerning the establishment of an “Images of Diversity” fund. The fund, to be managed by the national agency for social cohesion (Agence nationale pour la cohésion sociale - ACSE) and the national cinematographic centre (Centre national de la cinématographie - CNC), is intended to support the creation of cinematographic and audiovisual works dealing with diversity in France and equal opportunities. The aim is to support the production of works, whether fiction, documentary or news programmes, that deal with diversity in France. It also involves giving additional support to those projects accepted by the committees for awarding the selective aid provided by the CNC, on condition that the projects deal with diversity and social cohesion, whether at the stage of writing, development or production, or to promote their circulation among the widest possible public. The Decree of 9 February 2007 creating the “Images of Diversity” Committee lays down the committee’s composition and modus operandi. It has eleven members and is required to examine all applications and projects likely to receive assistance from the fund. The committee deliberates by taking into account the contribution the works or programmes could make: to awareness of the reality and expression of first- or second-generation immigrants; to awareness of the reality and expression of the French population outside mainland France; to enhancing the remembrance, history and cultural heritage of these populations and of their links with France; to combating discrimination; to the visibility of all the populations that make up present day French society; and to the construction of a common history on the basis of shared values (Art. 3 of the Decree). The “Images of Diversity” fund has a budget of EUR 10 million, divided equally between the ACSE and the CNC. The decision to award aid will be taken on the basis of the quality of the projects submitted - the fund will be able to provide aid for 500 projects each year. The CNC called for projects to be submitted as soon as the Decree was published.