Film-funding scheme fights for survival

Date: 12/12/1996

By Chris Johnstone

EU MONEY for a European film-making fund would be cut by a third under an Irish presidency move aimed at saving the proposal from being abandoned altogether because of opposition from some member states.

The presidency proposal is likely to be tabled at a meeting of EU culture and audio-visual ministers next Monday (16 December).

It follows discussions which have indicated that Germany would be prepared to drop its opposition in exchange for a more modest cash outlay.

Pressure is building on Germany to reverse its hard-line stance. Film industry sources say French President Jacques Chirac has personally intervened at recent meetings with Germany's Helmut Kohl to try to persuade the chancellor to change his mind.

“We understand Germany might accept this proposal. We would prefer to have reduced funding rather than have the proposal fall altogether,” said a European Commission source.

The film guarantee fund is aimed at encouraging private investors into this high-risk sector by covering a proportion of the losses if too many of the films they back turn out to be flops.

Bonn has been in the vanguard of a small group of countries which attacked the original proposal to inject 90 million ecu of EU cash into the fund, which would be expected to attract another 110 million ecu from the private sector.

The Irish proposal would fix the Union's contribution at 60 million ecu and would launch the fund with a limited number of entirely publicly-financed films, with mixed public-private funding being phased in later.

This new scenario is aimed at building up private banks' confidence in the guarantee fund.

Film industry sources also claim that the Netherlands and the UK - both early opponents of the fund - are now much more sympathetic to the idea.