Cinema: bipartisan bill put to the test by delegated powers; green light for the new agency
Unanimous final approval. Now there are two years to reorganise incentives and welfare
The cinema bill has received unanimous support from the Senate, but the reform will have to prove its worth in practice, given that a large part of the measures relating to aid and employment are left to legislative decrees.
The final approval, with no votes against and no abstentions, brings together the agency proposed by Elly Schlein’s PD and the government powers supported by the majority. A rare show of unity. The Minister for Culture, Alessandro Giuli, describes it as a ‘historic result’, stating that ‘the Senate’s unanimous vote confirms the value of a shared path between the majority and the opposition, in the interests of all those working in the sector’. Federico Mollicone, chair of the Chamber of Deputies’ Culture Committee, also describes the final approval as ‘a historic milestone for the film sector and a strategic one for the entire national cultural industry’. The Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (MIC), Lucia Borgonzoni, for her part, however, asserts: “This Government has done a great deal for the film industry, securing the promised funding: 70 million this year and 150 next year.”
Central to the new law is the establishment of the Agency for Cinema and Audiovisual Media, which is due to become operational on 1 January 2028, although two motions, G/2035/9/7 and G/2035/10/7, which call for the launch to be postponed until 2029.
It is to be a non-economic public body, with organisational, asset-related, financial and managerial autonomy. It will take over the operational functions of the Directorate-General for Cinema. However, it is the MIC that will retain responsibility for policy direction, strategic oversight and inspections. It will manage interventions, coordinate the Film Commissions and the attraction of foreign productions, and assess the outcomes of expenditure.
The Agency’s autonomy will have to contend with a governance structure in which, on closer inspection, politics retains significant influence. The director will be appointed on the recommendation of the minister, following a decision by the Council of Ministers and subject to a favourable parliamentary vote by a two-thirds majority. On the board of directors, three out of five members will be appointed by the Ministers for Culture and the Economy; the others by the Regions and the Forum. The statutes and regulations will also be subject to ministerial approval. In short: whilst the separation of functions is enshrined in writing, the distance from politics has yet to be established. The Forum will then replace the Higher Council: sixteen members, half of whom will be representatives of associations, serving without remuneration.
