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"Дондуков" 67
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NEWSLETTER # 7 - JULY 2008 FERA Activities __________________________________________________________
FERA held its General Assembly Meeting on May 31st and June 1st in Dublin, Ireland. The Screen directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI) welcomed almost 50 participants from abroad for the FERA General Assembly Meeting, including Liv Ullmann for her last meeting as FERA President. Three new directors’ organizations have been accepted as full members, new Executive Committee members have been elected and important discussions took place on two issues: “Is online market an asset for directors? Creative and financial opportunities of the Internet” and “An overview of directors’ organizations in Europe: how to improve the situation?”. The following Final declaration was adopted: “Meeting in Dublin, the city where James Joyce opened the first Irish cinema, European Directors reflect on the fragile nature of film distribution 104 years later. James Joyce’s cinema went dark, we do not want the same thing to happen to European film culture. “European filmmaking is like being in a tiny vessel facing huge tankers in a stormy sea” said Liv Ullmann stepping down after five years serving FERA as President. To which, Neil Jordan added, after screening “Faithless” her film based on Ingmar Bergman’s script, “the very kind of films that make cinema an art are harder to make and see than ever before”. The new digital era represents an exciting opportunity for European film directors to reach a larger audience. However, there are two challenges to the creative community; illegal downloading of films and the exploitation of authors’ works without proper payment. “We need partners, not foes” as István Szabó said in his acceptance speech as new President. We therefore call on EU and national authorities to establish a strong, enforceable level of protection of authors’ rights throughout European countries. We encourage them to be as visionary, innovative and bold as James Joyce in embracing new technologies in the best interest of European film artists and their audience.” http://www.ferainfo.org/newsDetail.php?id=33 István Szabó elected as the new President of FERA István Szabó, the prominent Hungarian director, has been elected as the new President of FERA at the Dublin General Assembly Meeting. He could not be there but sent messages and a prerecorded video to the participants, in which he declared: “I never thought about being the president of anything or anybody. Because of the experiences of my life – the 20th century and Middle-Europe, Hungary – I don’t even like to be a member” and added “I know that today, European cinema has got several troubles: financial troubles, distribution troubles, the question of rights, the Internet, piracy, the way of European story-telling, the different languages and the question of national identities. I know only one thing: we should not search for enemies, but try to find partnerships”. FERA calls on the President of the Republic of Chile to free the Chilean Documentary director Elena Varela López István Szabó wrote to Mrs. Michele Bachelet, President of the Republic of Chile on July 22 to ask for the release of Elena Varela López, who has been arrested while she was making a film on the conflict between lumber companies and Chile's Mapuche Indigenous people over the use of land. FERA asked the President of the Republic of Chile, the Minister of Interior and the Minister of Culture to guarantee her and all documentary filmmakers freedom of expression and artistic freedom in their work. http://www.ferainfo.org/newsDetail.php?id=34 Conference of the Council of Europe on the role of the Cinema in encouraging Intercultural Dialogue on July 18 in Armenia Cécile Despringre, CEO of FERA, was invited to this conference, which was a brainstorming session of 12 experts to prepare conclusions to be presented to the Ministers of Culture of the Council of Europe at their meeting on December 2 and 3 in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was held in the frame of the Yerevan International Film Festival Golden Apricot as an element of a pilot project of the Council of Europe called Cross-Border Cinema Culture carried out in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. It was therefore a good opportunity to enquire on existing directors’ organizations in those countries as potential new FERA members (report available on request). Conference website and documents: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/Regional/Kyiv/CBCC/Conf_2008_07_en.asp#TopOfPage Slovenian Presidency Conference on “Content Online for Creativity” on June 5th Cécile Despringre was invited by the Slovenian Presidency of the EU to deliver a key note speech in introduction to a session dedicated to the management of copyright online. She outlined the main messages of the FERA contribution to the content online EC consultation: directors see the new media as an exciting new way to distribute their works and reach new audiences but want new business models to incorporate their moral and economic rights. Therefore, the audiovisual and telecommunication sectors have to face three challenges: investment in local content, piracy and harmonization of economic rights of directors who should be entitled to an equitable remuneration for all the exploitations of their works. After the conference, Cécile Despringre staid one more day in Ljubljana to meet and support the Directors Guild of Slovenia upon the invitation of Igor Koršič, former member of the Executive Committee of FERA. Conference website: http://www.mk.gov.si/en/konferenca_spletne_vsebine_za_ustvarjalnost/ Seminar on “Globalisation: a threat to diversity of cultural expressions?” on May 22 in London The UK Coalition for Cultural Diversity chaired by Carole Tongue and directed by Holly Aylett organized this seminar at the London Metropolitan University to inform and identify key players about the UNESCO’s 2005 Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions and to mobilize civil society for the implementation of the convention. Cécile Despringre was invited to assess the relationship between the UNESCO convention and international trade law and the particular role of the European Union in the negotiation and implementation of the convention. Background document from the UK Coalition for Cultural Diversity: http://www.globalpolicy.com/fileadmin/user_upload/GPI/Research/UKCCD/UKCCDBACKGROUNDER0308.pd European Commission Extension of the current regime for state aid for film support schemes European Commissioners Neelie Kroes and Viviane Reding, responsible respectively for Competition and Information Society and Media indicated on May 22 their intention of proposing a three year extension to the current regime for state aid for film support schemes, as laid down in the 2001 cinema Communication (already extended in 2004 and 2007), until 2012. In a press release, they have indicated that they have taken into account the fact that the final report of the study on the economic and cultural impact of territorial conditions in film support schemes does not seem to be conclusive. At the same time, it will allow further reflection on new trends facing the sector, including competition among some Member States to attract investment from large-scale, mainly US, film production companies. EC Press Release: Final Report on the Economic and Cultural Impact of Territorial Clauses in Film Support Schemes: http://ec.europa.eu/avpolicy/docs/library/studies/territ/final_rep.pdf The EC authorizes a €43 million Latvian film support scheme The main objective of the Latvian film support scheme established for 6 years is to support and promote the development of Latvian film culture, particularly in rural areas. The Latvian film support scheme includes direct grants for film development, production and distribution. With a population of 2.3 million, there are only 14 full-time cinemas and 46 screens in total throughout the country (compared to 1,103 screens in 1990). Since these are mainly concentrated in Riga, Latvian and European films would be inaccessible to people living outside Riga without the support provided by the scheme. The Commission found that the scheme is compatible with the cultural derogation of the EC Treaty and in line with the 2001 Cinema Communication rules concerning aid to film production. EC Press Release: Antitrust Decision in the CISAC Case The EC adopted on July 16 an antitrust decision prohibiting 24 European music collective management societies from restricting competition. The EC considered that the societies limit their ability to offer their services to authors and commercial users outside their domestic territory for satellite, cable and Internet broadcasting. However, the decision allows colleting societies to maintain their current system of bilateral agreements and to keep their right to set levels of royalty payments due within their domestic territory. In an appeal to the EC President of more than 220 artists and creators, reveled in a press conference on July 3, the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance (ECSA) tried to reverse the process by alerting on the negative consequences of such a decision for the authors, their collective management societies and the users. EC Press Release: European Composer and Songwriter Alliance Press Release: http://www.composeralliance.org/?page_id=19 European Parliament Votes in Committees on the Telecommunication Package Review The lead committees on the Telecommunication Package Review, the Internal Market and the Industry committees, adopted their reports prepared respectively by M. Harbour (EPP, UK) and Mrs. Trautmann (PSE, France) on July 7. Five committees gave opinion reports before, especially the Culture committee which on June 2 and 3 adopted M. Mavrommatis and M. Guardans reports which incorporated all FERA proposals for the review, whereas the Civil Liberties committee rejected some of them. In the lead committees’ votes, M. Harbour worked on compromises which were acceptable for FERA, whereas Mrs. Trautmann refused to take into account FERA proposal for more cooperation between telecommunication operators and the content sector. The final vote will take place in plenary session in the week of September 22 in Strasbourg. EP Press Releases: Three films in competition for the LUX Prize 2008 of the European Parliament The competition for this year’s European Parliament Cinema Prize will be among Delta of Kornél Mundruczó (Germany, Hungary), Lorna’s Silence of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Belgium, United Kingdom, France, Italy) and Citizen Havel of Miroslav Janek and Pavel Koutecký (Czech Republic). The winner will be chosen by the Members of the European Parliament, after the competing films are shown from 15 September to 16 October in the EP premises in Brussels. The LUX Prize will be awarded on 22 October 2008 in Strasbourg. In 2007, it went to the film The Edge of Heaven by Fatih Akin. Cineuropa Article: http://www.cineuropa.org/newsdetail.aspx?lang=en&documentID=84934 EU Council of Ministers Informal Meeting of EU Ministers for Culture and Audiovisual Affairs, July 21 and 22 in Versailles, France The first day of the meeting focused on Culture and on ways to better enhance knowledge of, and access to, European heritage, particularly for young people. On the second day, Ministers for Audiovisual Affairs discussed the revision of the Telecommunications Package and raised the issue of protecting copyright and related rights: “This is of crucial importance, both for the future of the creative industries and electronic communications operators who are likely to become the principal distribution networks for these works. While depriving artist of their rightful income, online piracy handicaps the fair sharing of growth from products that are created jointly by the creative and communications industries.” French Presidency Press Release: Meeting of the EU Council Ministers of Culture on May 21 and 22 The Ministers of Culture of the 27 Member States adopted conclusions on Media literacy in the digital environment, on protecting children using the Internet and on the Work Plan for Culture 2008-2010. They also held an exchange of views on Creative Content Online that the Slovenian Presidency summarized in few paragraphs, in particular: “Member States drew particular attention to a number of important aspects of policy affecting the promotion of creative content online. These included the need to maintain cultural diversity and the problem of media concentration in the online world. The council heard a number of examples of good practice including the development of agreements at national level reconciling the interests of consumers and those of content creators and providers and the offering of publicly financed content online”. Council Press Release: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/educ/100577.pdf European Cinema European Films strong as cinema attendance falls back The European Audiovisual Observatory issued a press release on the figures of European Cinema on May 6. It is worth noting that cinema attendance in the 27 Member States of the European Union represents 919 million admissions in 2007; European films earned a market share of 28.8% in 2007, slightly up on the strong level of 2006 and 921 feature films were produced in 2007 in the EU, 10 more than in 2006. European Audiovisual Observatory Press Release: http://www.obs.coe.int/about/oea/pr/mif2008_cinema.html Application of the “Television Without Frontiers” Directive Almost two third of EU television time is “Made in Europe” According to the European Commission’s eighth report on the application of articles 4 and 5 of the “Television Without Frontiers” Directive covering the period 2005-2006 and the new EU-10 Member States’ broadcasters for the first time, more than 63% of Europe’s television broadcasters’ programming time is devoted to European works (according to the definition of the directive). Average transmission times varied between 74.31% in Slovenia and 81.14% in Denmark in 2005 and between 45.44% in Sweden and 81.07% in Poland in 2006. Full Report and Press Release available on EC website: http://ec.europa.eu/avpolicy/reg/tvwf/implementation/promotion/index_en.htm The European Commission took the next step in proceedings against Spain for not complying with television advertising restrictions The infringement procedure, started in July 2007, is based on a monitoring report that found the main channels in Spain, both publicly funded and commercial, failed regularly and by some margin to restrict advertising and teleshopping sports to 12 minutes per clock. « I am calling on the Spanish authorities to take urgent steps to come into line with the TVWF Directive. If they don’t, I will ask the Commission to refer this to the Court of Justice” said Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding. EC Press Release: Audiovisual Policies in Member States New changes to the Hungarian Film Law New changes demanded by the European Commission (DG Competition) have been made to the film law drawn up in Hungary in 2004, which established a system of direct funding and tax incentives, promoting investment in film production. Ratified in June by members of the Hungarian Parliament, the new version of the law defines more clearly the cultural criteria necessary for obtaining public funding. On a scale of 32 points, 16 is the minimum for eligibility for financial support from public sources. Points will be awarded if the film’s screenplay deals with a subject related to European or Hungarian culture, depicts European customs and lifestyles, expresses European values, is adapted from European literary works or if the filmmakers are citizens of the European economic zone, or have won awards at international festivals. Cineuropa Article: http://www.cineuropa.org/newsdetail.aspx?lang=en&documentID=84806 Advertising on French public TV After the announcement by President Nicolas Sarkozy of a plan to ban advertising on public TV channels on January, a mix commission of parliamentarians and professionals chaired by Jean- François Copé, chair of the government Party (UMP) in the National Assembly, worked on proposals to find alternative financing. Following the report of the Copé Commission, the project has been further advanced by the intervention of Nicolas Sarkozy on June 25. Advertising will thus disappear from public TV after 8 pm as of January 1, 2009 and definitively as of 2012. This radical change will be financed by a 0.9% tax on the turnover of telecom and Internet operators (an annual income estimated at €380m) and taxation on the advertising revenues of private television networks (€80m). Moreover, Sarkozy wants to directly appoint the head of France Télévisions. Cineuropa Article: http://www.cineuropa.org/newsdetail.aspx?lang=en&documentID=84991 MEDIA Programme Preparatory action Media International The European Parliament voted a budget of 2M€on December 13, 2007 for a preparatory action to strengthen cooperation between audiovisual industries of third countries and European countries. It is operating on the basis of reciprocity and covers actions in continuous training, promotion and distribution of cinematographic works and cinema networks. A call for proposals was published on April 4 with a closing date on June 13. The European Parliament has announced its intention to renew this budget for the years 2009 and 2010 (maximum 3 years). EC Website: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/media/prep_action/index_en.htm Public consultation and hearing on a possible Media Mundus programme After an online consultation on possible action to be taken in a possible future Media Mundus Programme (200 contributions received, including a FERA one), the European Commission organized a public hearing on June 25 in Brussels to hear professionals from Europe and elsewhere on action lines to be proposed after the preparatory action Media International, which provides the opportunity to test a further avenue for structuring and strengthening relations and networks between EU and third countries' professionals in the audiovisual sector. The European Commission plans to make a proposal for a Media Mundus programme by the end of 2008 in order to start in 2011 after the end of the preparatory action. Presentation by Aviva silver, head of unit of the Media Programme: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/media/mundus/public_hearing/index_en.htm Copyright Public Hearing on Private Copying Levies on May 27 in Brussels and Launch of the Working Group on Private Copying Levies DG Internal Market of the European Commission organized a public hearing on "Fair Compensation for Acts of Private Copying" on May 27 following the written consultation that lasted from 14 February 2008 through 18 April 2008 (FERA sent a contribution). The hearing was organized around three panels: 1) Role and impact of private copying levies in the digital environment; 2) Member States' experience with private copying levies; 3) Private copying levies – what direction should future policy take? The EC concluded the hearing by proposing the launch of a working group co-chaired by DG Internal Market and DG Education and Culture and gathering half of representatives of rightholders and half of representatives of manufacturers. It has been agreed at the hearing to discuss four topics: 1) Grey markets and parallel imports; 2) Levy refunding; 3) Methodology and broad principles for calculation of levies; 4) Actions against piracy. An inaugural meeting of the working group took place on July 9 to determine the composition of the working group, setting its agenda and plan the sequence of the topics to be discussed. The work on the two first topics will start in September while the two other topics will be discussed in January 2009. Charlie McCreevy Opening Speech at the Hearing: Intellectual Property Watch Article: http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1066 Agreement between Cultural Institutions and Rightholders on Orphan Works A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on June 4 by 26 libraries, archives and rightholders’ organizations (including FERA) in the presence of Commissioner Reding. It provides for due diligence guidelines which should be observed by cultural institutions when searching for rightholders. A work can be considered orphan if the criteria, including the documentation of the process and the outcome have been followed without finding the rightholders. The MoU promotes the guidelines as accepted standards to the member organizations across the European Union and encourage them to relate the generic information resources to local ones. FERA encourages its member organizations to take part in the completion of the guidelines at national level in order to include directors’ organizations in the local information resources. Memorandum of Understanding on EC website: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/digital_libraries/index_en.htm Draft French Law promoting the dissemination and protection of creative works on the Internet On June 18, Mrs. Christine Albanel, the French Minister of Culture, presented a draft law called « Creation and Internet » dealing with the set up of a “graduated response” mechanism in France. It relies on a preventive and pedagogical scheme rather than on criminal proceedings, which then will only be reserved to extremely severe offences, such as counterfeiting for commercial purposes or counterfeiting an extensive number of works. The system is based on the obligation made to the user to ensure that his/her Internet access is not used for counterfeiting purposes. Rights holders will communicate to a new High Authority the IP addresses of the users they have tracked down on the basis of observations of protected works. Via the Internet service providers, the High Authority will send a first warning e-mail message to the users concerned. In the event of a subsequent infringement within the next six months, another warning message will be sent. In case of repeated offences within a year, the High Authority will be entitled to suspend the Internet access involved for a period ranging from three months to one year, which can be reduced to one month upon negotiation with the High Authority. French Ministry of Culture Website (which includes English versions of the draft law and a memo on the law): http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/actualites/index-dossiers.htm Study concerning Multi-territory Licensing for the Online Distribution of Audiovisual Works in the European Union Following the discussions triggered by the EC Creative Content Online Communication of January 2008, DG Information Society and Media launched a tender procedure for a study on multi-territory licensing for the online distribution of audiovisual works in the EU in order to test some of its ideas. The study aims at assessing the economic and cultural consequences of the introduction of a system encouraging forms of multi-territorial licensing of audiovisual works. Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate is August 18. Tender procedures in the EC Audiovisual and Media Policies: http://ec.europa.eu/avpolicy/info_centre/tenders/index_en.htm Culture Launch of the Civil Society Culture Platforms on June 5 and 6 Following an information session organized on February 19 in Brussels (FERA Newsletter #4 – February 2008), DG Education and Culture published a call for expressions of interest to give organizations from the culture sector the opportunity to express their interest in participating in two new thematic civil society platforms on: i) Access to Culture and ii) Creative and Cultural Industries. FERA expressed its interest and was invited to a first constitutive meeting on June 5 and 6, 2008 in Brussels. The platform on the potential of culture and creative industries has set up 5 working groups on 1) Environment (in particular, the regulatory environment), 2) SMEs, 3) Exchange and export in a globalize world, 4) Circulation of works and artists and 5) Interface "creation-industry” which will start their work in September. FERA is participating in 4 out of the 5 working groups (not the SMEs one). DG Education and Culture Website: http://ec.europa.eu/culture/our-policy-development/doc1199_en.htm European Union External Relations Cultural Symposium of the French Presidency of the European Union on “Cinema, Europe and the World” on July 7 and 8 in Paris In the conclusions of the symposium, the organizers (the French National Cinema Centre) insisted on the need to implement a structuring and durable action that would be tailor-made and adapted to the different needs and expectations that vary greatly from one region of the world to another. Devising a film cooperation policy for the European Union and the world would enforce the principles of the UNESCO Convention on cultural diversity, namely: considering cultural goods and services in their dual nature, economic and cultural; leaving States with the possibility to implement cultural policies; committing to cooperation, in particular with developing countries. Such a requirement has gained an increased importance at a time when, in addition to launching support measures in the field of film cooperation, the European commission is negotiating trade agreements including specific annexes on film and culture. The participants have called on an extreme vigilance, in particular from Member States, in order to make sure that these agreements stick to the UNESCO Convention on cultural diversity. They have worried about the fact that these agreements be negotiated by trade officials and not by the relevant services in charge of audiovisual and culture. Symposium Website: http://www.colloquecinemaeuropemonde.fr/spip.php?rubrique&lang=en Cineuropa Article: http://www.cineuropa.org/newsdetail.aspx?lang=en&documentID=85332 News from the Members Directors UK launches to provide a united voice for directors UK Screen directors working in Film, Television and New Media now have a single body to represent their interests. In June 2008 Directors UK has launched in a strategic move that provides one voice for nearly 4,000 members. The organization's Board, under the Presidency of Paul Greengrass with Chairman Charles Sturridge and Chief Executive Suzan Dormer, is comprised of some of the UK’s most well respected talent. Directors UK is both a collecting society and the campaigning body for the creative and economic rights of Directors. It has already started to engage with broadcasters, producers and its members. Press Articles: http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/2008/06/directors_uk_to_lobby_broadcasters_on_pay.html http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/jun/09/itv.television The Association of Film directors of the French Speaking Community of Belgium (ARRF) Since 2002, ARRF defends the role of the director and his/her authorship on a film and the necessity for a true cultural diversity. ARRF intends to preserve a fair balance between cultures and economics in order to maintain a cinematography which originality lies in the directors’ personality. Conscious that it is essential to allow directors to make singular and innovator films, ARRF created in 2007 a production house: “Cinéastes Associés”. “Cinéastes Associés’ proposes to directors a space of creative freedom and encourages production of films especially written and designed for small budgets, which help the emergence of new kind of writing and directing. Two full length feature films are currently in production. The deadline for presenting new projects is September 19. http://www.cineastesassocies.be/ Forthcoming Events Meeting of the FERA Executive Committee on September 8 and 9 in Brussels The newly elected Executive Committee members of FERA (Peter Carpentier, Trish McAdam, Ger Poppelars, Kurt Mayer, Birgitte Staermose, Hrvoje Hribar and Michel Andrieu) will meet on September 8 and 9 in Brussels. They will discuss the issues which aroused from the Dublin General Assembly Meeting and prepare the work plan for the end of 2008 and 2009. On September 8 evening, they will meet the board of directors of ARRF. The new President of FERA, István Szabó, will join them on September 9. Council of Europe Film Policy Forum, September 11-13 in Kraków, Poland The Council of Europe, the Polish Film Institute and the European Think Thank for Film and Film Policy are organizing a Forum on “Shaping policies for the Cinema of Tomorrow” on September 11 to 13 in Kraków. Cécile Despringre has been invited last year to an experts’ meeting to prepare this conference and will participate to the Forum. Council of Europe webpage for the Forum: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/policies/Film/forum_en.asp#TopOfPage French Presidency Seminar on Creative Content Online on September 18 and 19 in Paris, France The French Presidency is organizing a seminar on Creative Content Online which will discuss five topics: 1) How the usages, behaviors and offers are evolving? 2) What are the business models for the creative content online? 3) Interoperability 4) Towards an increased circulation of works online 5) The European management of rights. Dijon Film Forum on October 9 to 11, France ARP, associate member of FERA, is organizing on October 9 to 11 its annual Film Forum in Dijon, France. István Szabó, President of FERA, will participate with Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, to the panel discussion on “An assessment and the perspectives of European policy as regards audiovisual, cinematographic and cultural issues”. Three other issues will be discussed: an interim assessment of the Club of 13: reform the system of support and regulation of the film industry in a changing environment; how does cinematographic creation fit into the framework of the audiovisual reforms; Cinema-audiovisual: what role and what policies for local authorities? FERA members wishing to participate to the ARP Film Forum are invited to contact the FERA office. The European Film Music Days on November 14 and 15 in Paris, France The European Film Music Days initiated by UCMF (Union of French Music Composers) at the occasion of the Centenary of Film Music, is co-organized by FFACE (Federation of Film and Audiovisual Composers of Europe), in partnership with the Cité de la Musique. The European Film Music Days are conceived as a cross-professional platform bringing together protagonists from the film and television sector on the theme of pictures and music, as well as representatives from related political and cultural bodies. More information on the programme of the event in the next Newsletter. Directors in Dialogue Letter of Cay Wesnigk, German director member of AG DOK and Chairman of the Onlinefilm AG to Liv Ullmann, former President of FERA: Dear Liv, I would like to thank you that you have presided the FERA for such a long time and have dedicated time and energy into the cause of the organization and lobbying of the directors of Europe. It seems as if the more you have done in your job the more you become a manager for others and the higher your responsibility for the well being of the community gets. Isaac Asimov, the science fiction writer, supposedly has said, that the problem of people with fantasy is always the same, they can always imagine how things could be made better. I think this is something that definitely applies for the directors and it makes the meetings of the FERA interesting and aspiring. The Idea of a dialogue between directors to be published in the FERA Newsletter was one of the ideas that came out of the Dublin meeting. The Idea landed in your lap and you asked me to write you a letter that could be used as a window in the life of a director these days. So I am sitting in a train among many meetings I have because of my work as a director and political lobbyist for the authors’ rights in the digital universe and the freedom to make films and write a letter to Liv. What moves me these days can be best described by what I have done in the weeks since Dublin. I was home only for two days and then left for Stuttgart where the house of documentaries had its annual conference Dokville. The theme was "Documentary 2.0 caught in the web of new possibilities". The opening speech was held by the very well known German docfilmmaker Peter Krieg. He had two protagonists for his speech: one was the enormously popular ice bear baby Knuth, born in the zoo in Berlin and hyped by the media to a big positive media event and the second wild brown bear Bruno who wandered into Bavaria over the Alps and was shot because he had killed some sheep. He has been stuffed and is now exhibited with his fangs showing. Through those two characters he told the story of a release of a documentary filmmaker into the wilderness of the digital realm, where suddenly he has to take care for his own food and well fare. While his colleague Knuth stays in his cage where he knows the rules and how to behave and is consequently fed and groomed regularly, he can live, but what price does he pay for it? It was a fascinating analogy with our filmmaking world (at least here in Germany) where we are all working on highly subsidized projects or more or less well paid work for Public Broadcasting Services where we well know our limits and what can be said and what better not, and it analyzed sharply how much we are afraid of the change that lies ahead of us: the end of everything that we have accommodated ourselves in. The reactions was similar insecure. It seems as if many people had identified themselves as Knuth and did not feel too well with this new knowledge. The speech (in German) can be found and downloaded at: http://www.dokville.de/2008/downloads/Dokville08PeterKrieg.pdf During the two days of the conference we learned a lot about interactive story telling, new games that are not ego shooters but called serious games, which address serious issues like the Israeli - Palestine conflict and such. We also talked a lot about new ways of distribution on the Internet and I was myself on a panel, where I presented our www.onlinefilm.org initiative one more time to an interested audience. The Onlinefilm.org project is an Internet platform that makes it possible for filmmakers and producers (rights owners of films) to offer their works for "download to own" over the Internet and ask for a fair price to be paid at the same time. The company is owned by more then 100 filmmakers from Germany and is trying to get an even wider and more international ownership basis by offering new shares to filmmakers, directors, authors and producers from all over the world. Since it is very easy to upload films and make them available world wide, we hope to be able to find our audiences easier and more efficiently in the future. Of course we also hope to be able to finance the films in the future through such a system, but many doubts are in place if this will work out. Many of us still would like to see our films on the big screen, but once they have had there life there (if at all), the distribution via the web is a good alternative to a DVD sale. You know as well as me how hard it is; so many films are so difficult to get hold of, if you want to see them. This could be a matter of the past in some years. And with the development of faster computers and better internet connections it will be possible to even watch the old films in high definition on a big screen or even in a projection at home. At Onlinefilm.org we plan to provide you with an easy to use tool, to invite your friends over for the screening, or if your friends are too far away, to communicate with them and others who have seen the film, maybe even with the director of the film? At least it will be possible to watch a Q&A he has done (I wish I had taped yours with Neil Jordan in Dublin!) After this event I went to Colon for the Mediaforum which also had a film congress: http://www.medienforum.nrw.de/de/kongress/programm.html There again the digitization was one of the major themes of the conference. This time I was on the panel with people from the private TV sector. One of the biggest players in the field, the representative of the VOD portal owned by the German Telecom, freely admitted that a good share of their income is generated through the "erotic content" that they offer online. What a neighborhood for our films? I met a colleague from the Netherlands, Petra Goedings. She told me that the Dutch state is investing over €100 million to digitize the complete Dutch Film heritage. In Holland the filmmakers (authors, directors and producers) have founded a company to sell those films online. I hope to meet them and discuss possible cooperation next week. From Colon I flew to Vienna, where I was invited to hold a lecture on new digital distribution forms at the Danube University in Krems for a master class of students. We went through everything in one day starting with rights and ending with a comparison of different offers that are already on the web, trying to get hold of our films and to find an audience. Here I did not sense the fear, but the eagerness to become part of this new movement and make use of the chances. One of the students was very engaged with mobile content and we discussed at length how that could look like and what will work on mobile devices like the Iphone in the years to come. In parallel I organized a shooting in Poland where a protagonist of mine, a 65 years old priest from my hometown Lübeck is invited to an exhibition of the photo collection of his father. The father, also a priest and photo amateur has taken them on Agfa Color in the 30th and 40th’s, when he was the evangelic priest in the little town Oborniki which was a German enclave in Poland (since 1918) near Poznan. I have found a polish co producer, who is interested in making a film about this for the Polish audience. Next year is the anniversary of the invasion of Poland by Germany in 1939 and we hope that there will be interest on a story like this that is trying to document the reconciliation process between the Germans and the Poles on this small private scale. You can download a rough cut of the film, which has the working title "Geliehene Erinnerungen" (lent memories) at http://www.onlinefilm.org/-/film/25579 (its in German and Polish). I have always been interested most in topics and in situations when the private live collides with political issues. Do people become heroes and fight for their values or do they roll with the flow and betray them? Today I am in Aachen to write on the final report for the Media Programme which granted us support for the Onlinefilm.org project. We also have to reapply for the next slate of finance and again instead of making films I sit in front of the computer and write to bureaucrats, who are responsible to account for public money, a manager we all become sooner or later. I wish you a good time in Russia at the festival where you will preside the Jury! Take care! All the best Cay
EUROPEAN FILM DIRECTORS CONFERENCE IN DUBLIN CALLS FOR A STRONGER IMPLEMENTATION OF THEIR RIGHTS
Prominent conference delegates issue statement calling on urgent action
Brussels, June 2, 2008 A high-profile international conference held in Dublin this weekend attended by over 60 film and television directors from across Europe, has strongly criticised the lack of implementation of their rights throughout European countries, and has called on urgent establishment of strong, enforceable legislation to address the situation. Impacting on these rights are the issues of the illegal downloading of films from the internet, and the exploitation of authors’ works without proper payment. Hosted by the Screen Directors Guild of Ireland (SDGI), the conference welcomed the General Assembly of the Federation of European Film and Television Directors (FERA) to Dublin for the first time ever.
“While the new digital era represents an exciting opportunity for European film directors to reach a larger audience, these are two serious challenges to the creative community, and will have a profound effect on the film industry in Ireland and right across Europe if not addressed immediately”, commented Cécile Despringre Chief Executive Officer of FERA on the final day of the conference.
“Our vision in FERA is to represent directors in a very constructive way, not only for what we are and what we aspire to be, but also to enable us to embrace the new media, the new ways of expression and new ways for us to reach our audiences. European filmmaking is like being in a tiny vessel facing huge tankers in a stormy sea” said Liv Ullmann stepping down after five years serving FERA as President. To which, Neil Jordan added “that the very kind of films that make cinema an art are harder to make and see than ever before.”
This conference focused on important initiatives and common concerns for European directors such as creative and economic challenges that European directors face today, new technology and the impact this has on the creative process and European legislation and the regulation of films online.
The rapid progression of developments in new media and their potential impact on directors is cause for concern, and as such formed a key topic of discussion at the AGM. The implications of European legislation (existing and impending) on new technology are significant for the filmmaking community in all its variety, and ultimately for the public who engage with these artforms. The creative and artistic elements of the media industry will be impacted upon significantly by the legislation in question, and this topic was a focus of the AGM. SDGI hopes that this conference will highlight areas in which Irish institutions could respond better to this vital cultural debate at a European level, and raise awareness of areas where Ireland is not currently implementing existing European legislation.
Delegates and guests at this distinguished event included renowned director and actress Liv Ullmann, who introduced a special screening of her filmFaithless on Friday evening. The screening was followed by a “director in dialogue” session where the director discussed her work with Academy Award winner Neil Jordan.
FERA (Fédération Européenne des Réalisateurs de l’Audiovisuel / Federation of European Film and Television Directors) was established in Venice in 1980 and now represents 33 national associations in European countries. FERA focuses on relaying the concerns of directors onto the European political scene in order to promote a European environment fostering creation and circulation of European works. FERA defends the art and craft, and the creative and economic rights of the director, as essential to the diversity of European audiovisual culture.
The FERA General Assembly elected István Szabó as its new President and renewed three members of the Executive Committee out of seven. The following final declaration was adopted: “Meeting in Dublin, the city where James Joyce opened the first Irish cinema, European Directors reflect on the fragile nature of film distribution 104 years later. James Joyce’s cinema went dark; we do not want the same thing to happen to European film culture.
“European filmmaking is like being in a tiny vessel facing huge tankers in a stormy sea” said Liv Ullmann stepping down after five years serving FERA as President. To which, Neil Jordan added, after screening “Faithless” her film based on Ingmar Bergman’s script, “the very kind of films that make cinema an art are harder to make and see than ever before.” The new digital era represents an exciting opportunity for European film directors to reach a larger audience. However, there are two challenges to the creative community: illegal downloading of films and the exploitation of authors’ works without proper payment.
“We need partners, not foes” as István Szabó said in his acceptance speech as new President. We therefore call on EU and national authorities to establish a strong, enforceable level of protection of authors’ rights throughout European countries. We encourage them to be as visionary, innovative and bold as James Joyce in embracing new technologies in the best interest of European film artists and their audience.”
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