MADRID, March 12 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Next Thursday, March 16th, the Congress will begin the processing of the new Law on Cinema and Audiovisual Culture with a debate on the whole of the standard with which many players in the sector want to see their demands met after weeks of uncertainty and warnings.
The latest to put forward their demands publicly were the representatives of the Spanish Cinema Federation (FECE), who announced last week that they have already forwarded their demands for the new law to the Ministry of Culture and Sport and the various parliamentary groups. . , including the abolition of the screen quota or the extension of the “exhibition window” to 100 days.
Last December, the Council of Ministers presented the Cinema and Audiovisual Culture Law to the Cortes Generales. The text was changed by the factions, and a complete change was even registered by the Vox faction.
“At the moment, the political groups have only gathered our sensibilities, but there is no party that has confirmed that they will include our demands in their amendments,” said FECE director-general Luis Gil in a meeting with the press “Continuist” referred to the new law of the sector.
One of his first demands is the abolition of the European quota. The future film law will stipulate that cinemas’ programming must include films from European Union member states or Ibero-American in every version, in such a way that at the end of each calendar year at least 20 percent of screenings are made up of either European or Ibero-American works programmed, compared to the 25 percent covered by current legislation.
On the other hand, they have also emphasized once again how important it is to achieve 100 days in the exclusivity of the exhibition of the new films – currently it is 45 days -. “We’ve encountered a lot of difficulties because the platforms are very strong and they’re in a bloc,” Gil lamented, although the federation has insisted Netflix, HBO or others “are not the enemy.”
The other open front created for culture with the edited audiovisual law is that of independent producers. Iceta’s ministry already announced when the film law was approved that, taking into account the other law, the subsidies will be “largely” awarded to these producers.
In this sense, Culture assured that the bill maintains the definition of the independent producer “required by the industry” and stressed that the funds of the calls for help will be allocated “mainly” to independent producers and not to the obligations imposed in the audiovisual communication law.
In general, the Film Law emphasizes the need for public aid “suitable to promote all aspects of the audiovisual field”. In the title of the law, the concept of “audiovisual culture” has been included together with that of “cinema”, considering that cinematographic activity and audiovisual activity form a single entity that reflects the specificities of the various means of exploiting and disseminating the audiovisual Medium integrated works.
In addition, the law sees as a novelty that the Film and Audiovisual Protection Fund always reserves a “significant” percentage of its endowment exclusively for cinematographic activities, even if it includes other audiovisual forms such as series.
The draft law pays special attention to the actual equality of men and women through special reserves in the foundations of the various aid lines. For example, the 35% reservation on the allocation of production aids reserved for women by aid orders now becomes a statutory obligation with which all production aids must comply.
THE EUROPEAN SHARE ALSO WITH LATIN AMERICAN CINEMA
In addition, it is envisaged that the ICAA, through the Spanish Film Library, will take initiatives aimed at “making visible” the production and role of women in the Spanish cinematographic and audiovisual heritage.
The screen quota (the percentage that exhibitors must reserve for national and European films) is also maintained: it goes from 25% to 20% and includes Latin American films and films directed by women.
In order to obtain accessibility aids for feature films and distribution, the incorporation of accessibility systems will be necessary. Companies that are eligible for funding may be required to meet the job reservation quota for people with disabilities.
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MOVIE LIBRARY
Finally, it includes the obligation to respect the conditions of universal accessibility in the film exhibition, while proposing an improvement of the Spanish film library in terms of accessibility for the circulation of cinematographic works.
The Spanish Film Library is classified as an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC). In addition to considering creating specific grants for the preservation of the audiovisual heritage, it stipulates that the beneficiaries of public grants must provide the Spanish Film Library with the necessary materials for the best possible preservation of the heritage.
