«Il cinema produces wealth and job opportunities, since it exists Apulia Film Commission many have been able to make films while remaining in Puglia». Ivan D’Ambrosio, president of Cna Cinema e audiovisivo Puglia, the first trade association that brings together audiovisual companies, which today at 6 pm has organized a round table at the Convitto Palmieri in Lecce which will be attended by the Councilor for Economic Development of Puglia, Alessandro Delli Noci.
D’Ambrosio, there is a strong storm among the operators, what is happening in the Apulian audiovisual sector which until now has been a jewel in the crown of the territory?
“I would first like to clarify that in Puglia, up until 15 years ago, with rare exceptions including the productions of the great master Nico Cirasola, cinema was just watched. And yet today it is one of the few sectors in the cultural field that bring in more money than they consume. The policies adopted in the territory first allowed the sector to germinate and strengthen so much as to attract over time not only the productions supported by Apulia Film Commission but also the large productions, which today come to shoot in Puglia without having any contribution. The latest example that concerns us was Stolen Girl, a film produced by Ilbe with Kate Beckinsale and Scott Eastwood in which you don’t see even a frame of Puglia, and yet they shot here and chose to do it even without regional funding because by now the professional capital that this Region has created is as important as the funding, and must be protected and respected as the greatest value”.
So what’s wrong?
“Our reasoning is that cinema cannot be considered only culture but must be included in a perspective of economic development and business. And it is this vision that the Region, in our opinion, has somewhat lost. For this reason, we are happy that the Region finally has a Councilor for Culture, with whom we hope to meet soon to understand if, from his point of view, cinema and audiovisual are confirmed as strategic sectors for the cultural sector of this region. We strongly wanted to set up this meeting in Lecce with Councilor Delli Noci to understand if the economic effects of cinema and audiovisual do not deserve specific attention also from his department”.
In concrete terms, why is the sector suffering?
«The problem from a regional point of view is the lack of an overall vision that existed in the early years of sector policies, a vision that can bring together production, distribution, exhibition, public and image education, training and a network of festivals. English: We support the need for a transversal dialogue with the training of the Puglia Region and with the institutions that train the talents of tomorrow, the new Dams of Bari, the Academies of Fine Arts, the Enziteto Film Academy and all the institutions that operate in the field of technical training, because often the most concrete job opportunities are those related to extremely technical professions. And then there is an even more serious problem that concerns programming: the Department of Culture and Tourism, despite our contrary opinion, has chosen to publish the Film Fund call with a single window in February 2024, so all the producers who normally make their plans by choosing where to go to shoot after two years of waiting (the last Call was published in November 2021) found themselves applying to a call with a limited period, communicated only two months before, which has cut out many entities or forced many others to rush the times penalizing the quality of the projects. At this moment Puglia, which has built its credibility from a cinematographic point of view on transparency, on respecting deadlines and on its planning capacity, is instead putting production companies in great difficulty”.
What do producers ask of you?
“Producers, both foreign and domestic, ask us if and when there will be other windows and as we speak we are certainly losing other opportunities to bring resources and employment opportunities to the territory. The inability to plan is becoming the main problem of Afc, but the main reason seems to be the lack of willingness of the Puglia Region to understand the specific aspects that regulate the world of cinema and audiovisual. When the director of the Culture department told us that the maximum availability was 5 million, we suggested as a last resort to think about two windows of 2.5 million so as to be able to open a new one in the fall to be communicated already then. Because cinema is above all planning. We have not been listened to, and now we are asking for the publication of a new window with new funds in the fall and the communication of what the funds will be and how many windows already in 2025”.
Is it true that many people have delays of even years in their reimbursements?
«Unfortunately, yes, there are huge delays regarding both the communication of results and the management of the reports. The development call published last October saw the publication of the results in May. The Film Fund that provided 60 days for the publication of the ranking is still in progress, and there is no official news on when the results will be published. Some say in September. If it were true, we would lose all the projects that were applied with the program of shooting in September or October, and from what I know there are quite a few. Third structural problem: the very long time of the administrative checks on the reports. The verification of the congruity of the costs of the old ERDF is not yet affected by the change of direction of the current call and yet many disbursements are still on stand by. There are major delays that are putting many productions, both from Puglia and national, in financial difficulty».
So what do you do?
“In our opinion, the communion of intent between the Puglia Region and the Apulia Film Commission should be restored and a new season of policies should be started on the territory that valorizes those who have invested and continue to invest in Puglia. The allocation of human resources by AFC dedicated to the investigation and reporting activities should also be rethought, or a different organization of work should be defined, always favoring the discussion with producers to resolve upstream the issues on which the mechanism risks jamming. We believe that the Region, also for a question of political coherence, should oppose the government’s tendency to apply a sort of Darwinian selection in which the small ones disappear. Also because Puglia is characterized by a large quantity of medium-small production companies that have contributed in large part to creating the cultural fabric on which the entire effervescent and creative model is based”.
So, come on little ones?
“Strength to the small, to the cultural industries that must be central again and to the peculiarities of a territory that produces culture. Think for example of the great Apulian vocation for documentary cinema. A reality that makes us unique and yet for example in the Apulia calls for tenders the documentary does not enjoy any protection, despite many of our requests in this regard”.
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