Italy

[IT/TR] Agreement on Film Co-productions between Italy and Turkey

IRIS 2007-8:1/46

Martin Kuhr

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

On 30 March 2006, the Republic of Italy and the Republic of Turkey signed a film co-production agreement.

The aim of the agreement is to improve the basic conditions for film co-productions between the two countries in the film, television, video and new media fields. The agreement is based on the idea that co-productions benefit the partners from both the technical and the artistic point of view. Financially, its purpose is to help both film producers and distributors. The parties are convinced it will help to foster the ongoing development of their cultural relations. It provides for a number measures to facilitate co-operation on co-productions. For example, Article 2(1) lays down that all co-productions falling within its scope are to be regarded as domestically made films. It follows from this that they are subject to the relevant national arrangements for providing support.

Under Article 5, studio and location shooting must also be carried out in one of the two contracting states. An exception is possible if this is dictated by the requirements of the film. The producers, scriptwriters, directors, actors and technicians must be nationals of one of the contracting states or an EU country. Exceptions to these rules require the consent of the relevant bodies.

Under Article 6, producers in either country can contribute a minimum of 20% and a maximum of 80% to a project. They are also required to meet at least a 10% share of the costs.

Article 8 provides that two language versions of each film must be produced. The contracting parties undertake in Article 9 to enable film industry professionals to enter and stay in their respective countries, subject to their national laws. The documentation necessary for checking whether a project can be regarded as a co-production has to be submitted sixty days before shooting begins. This check is to be carried out by the Ministry of Culture in both Italy and Turkey.

A “Mixed Commission” made up of officials from both countries, experts, directors and producers deals with such matters as the application and development of the agreement.