France

[FR] Announcement of Draft Legislation on the Cinema before the End of 2008

IRIS 2008-6:1/14

Amélie Blocman

Légipresse

At the meeting of the French Government's Council of Ministers on 14 May 2008, Christine Albanel, Minister for Culture and Communication, presented a communication on policy in support of the cinema. Although France occupies third place in the world and first place in Europe as a film-producing country, and despite a series of historic records (record for cinema attendance to see the French film “ Bienvenue chez les Cht’is ”, three Oscars won in Hollywood, record for investment in French films), the sector nevertheless needed to prepare itself to deal with such challenges as entering the Internet world, and the digitisation of the entire sector, from production to broadcasting. It also needs to affirm its artistic ambition, its influence in the world, and its capacity to export itself. A number of reports have highlighted the sector’s strengths and weaknesses, and have proposed areas for reform (see IRIS 2008-5: 10). The Government has therefore announced a series of measures to meet these challenges. Firstly, the creation of a legal framework for developing the lawful offer of films on the Internet and the revision of the chronology for exploiting films using this medium. The Directive on audiovisual media services will be transposed into French law to make it possible to associate the world of the Internet with new services for the development of cinematographic creation. The process intended to accompany the financing of new projection equipment will also be set up by the end of the year. Secondly, still in keeping with the recent Perrot-Leclerc report, the Minister has announced the modernisation of the prior authorisation arrangement for multiplex cinemas in order to promote the diversity of the total number of cinema theatres. The powers and scope for action of the Cinema Mediator are in fact to be increased to improve the viewing of films in cinema theatres. The main area for reform involves modernising the various types of aid, as the Minister confirmed on 21 May when she instructed the national cinematographic centre ( Centre National de la Cinématographie - CNC) to carry out a consultation. This implies that the effort made in 2008 to increase aid in support of authors and creation (30% increase in aid for writing and development and 10% increase in the advance budget on income) will be continued. Similarly, the arrangement for aid in favour of the export of French films will be renovated and reinforced in 2009, with a view to achieving greater effectiveness. The long-term aim is to double the results achieved by exports of French films and to give the French cinema a higher profile worldwide. The Minister also recalled that she would like to see a new tax credit introduced in 2009 that would be open to non-French films that do not have access to French aid. She also felt it was “essential to reform the Cinema Code” and to modernise the CNC, “to give it greater financial autonomy and to provide it with appropriate governance bodies”. All these measures and reforms requiring changes to legislation should be “grouped together in draft legislation on the cinema, before the end of 2008”.