Germany

[DE] Launch of Support Programmes for Small Art House Cinema and National Film Heritage Digitisation

IRIS 2012-4:1/18

Anne Yliniva-Hoffmann

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

At the beginning of February 2012, two new programmes for the support of digitisation in the German film sector were launched (see IRIS 2011-7/18).

On 9 February 2012, the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the Film- und Medienstiftung NRW (NRW Film and Media Foundation) announced a cooperative programme to provide financial support for the conversion of small cinemas to digital technology. The aim of the programme, which will last until 31 December 2013, is to equip around 150 screens with digital projection technology. To this end, the Land is making available EUR 3 million of funds granted by the European Regional Development Fund. Support will be offered to cinemas with a maximum of six screens, which have not previously been equipped with digital technology, with up to EUR 20,000 available per screen. The scheme is therefore particularly designed to promote local cultural life, small art house cinemas and the showing of European and German films. The new programme is meant to supplement existing measures in NRW to promote digitisation (see IRIS 2010-7/17) and can be combined with programmes run by the Filmförderungsanstalt (Film Support Office - FFA) and the Bundesbeauftragte für Kultur und Medien (Federal Commissioner for Culture and Media - BKM).

On 8 February 2012, at a meeting of the Culture and Media Committee of the German Bundestag (lower house of parliament), the BKM expressed a desire to push forward with the digitisation of the national film heritage. The aim was to safeguard historic film material for the long term and keep it accessible to the public. For this purpose, the Federal Archive would receive a sum of EUR 230,000 in 2012 in order to implement the technical requirements for inspecting, preparing and digitising the material. A further EUR 100,000 will be granted to two film foundations to digitise pre-war film material and films from the former GDR. The BKM also urged the film industry to help finance the measures needed for film heritage digitisation, as it does with cinema digitisation (see IRIS 2010-9/21).