Brussels, 08/10/2003 (Agence Europe) - With the creation of Cinedays 2003, the European Union aims to celebrate the vitality of the film industry in Europe but also to encourage young people to watch European films in cinemas, cultural associations and on the television, allowing them to discover the classics of European cinema as well as more recent films. "Why Cinedays 2003?", Commissioner Viviane Reding asked during the launching ceremony of Cinedays 2003 (see EUROPE of 8 October, p.17). "Because, in the EU of Fifteen, European cinema is strong, with an annual production of 625 full-length films, 10,000 cinemas and exactly 933 million box office entries in 2002", she told the press. Ms Reding nonetheless highlighted the fact that progress in the European film industry has not, however, really been as they would have hoped. Evolution is to be seen in the form of entry tickets for the showing of national films but not for European films, she explained, supporting her argument with figures: - in 2003, 30% of box office entries were for European films, as opposed to 23% in 2000. "This is a move forward but we still have 70% entries for American films", the Commissioner noted, concluding that "much has still to be done to bridge this gap, mainly in the future new Member States where there is extraordinary potential".
Congratulating and thanking Ms Reding for all the initiatives that she has taken to help the European film industry, Belgian film producer Marion Hansel, who produced "Clouds" in 2001, felt that Europe must show resolve if the 7th art is to survive, and everything should be done to revive films in Europe. Marion Hansel insisted on how important it was to strengthen Commission action in favour of European cinema, and above all in favour of production and distribution. Her compatriot, Alain Bernier, one of the producers in 1997 of "Ma vie en rose", who follows in the wake of André Delvaux, explained that, in Europe, it is still possible to develop an artistic approach to cinema with a global vision, which is not the case in the United States where there is only talk of production. The film-maker also welcomed initiatives such as Cinedays as "they allow us to make what is specifically European known". "In Europe, there is a dimension brought by all of us through our films - an Italian, Spanish or Greek dimension", continued Alain Bernier, who added that all these dimensions come together to make a whole Europe. The film-maker raised the problem of funding the film sector and said that one should continue to consider films as an "exceptional product and not as a commercial product".