Brussels, 06/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has welcomed the international success of films supported by the MEDIA programme.
The French documentary film "La marche de l'Empereur", which received 1.13 million EUR in aid under the MEDIA programme, won the Best Documentary Film Oscar 2006 in Hollywood on Sunday, at the 78th ceremony of this most prestigious cinema award. In this category, it was up against the film "Darwin's Nightmare" (Belgium/Austria), another film supported by MEDIA.
Other films supported by the European programme were also nominated for various Oscars, this time in the category of Best foreign film, "Sophie Scholl" (Germany), "Joyeux Noël" (France/Germany) and "Paradise Now" (Palestine/Netherlands).
Commissioner Viviane Reding, who is in charge of the information Society and media, welcomed this success, which proves that "European films have succeeded not only on their own national markets, but also, and increasingly, in the other countries of Europe and on other continents". European cinema could enjoy even greater success if the audiovisuals market in Europe was less fragmented and if the films received more "pro-active" promotion on the new markets in the world, added Viviane Reding. "We must improve Europe's strategy to export its cinema works, just as digital distribution and on-line film are opening up new possibilities", stressed Ms Reding, referring to the new markets to be explored, such as Brazil, South Africa and China.