Ukraine

01/03:  UNIC stands in solidarity with Ukrainian exhibitors and the Ukrainian people following Russian invasion - UNIC

UNIC, the trade body representing the interests of cinema operators across 39 European territories, has today issued a statement expressing its solidarity not just with Ukrainian exhibitors but also the Ukrainian people as they look to repel the attack on their country by Russian forces.

28/03: Press release: Audiovisual authors’ organisations stand in solidarity with Ukraine - SAA

The Society of Audiovisual Authors and its collective management organisation members stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and their creative community following the invasion of the country, and with all forms of opposition to the war.

01/03: Unequivocal Solidarity with Ukraine - European Film Academy

The Academy strongly condemns the war started by Russia – Ukraine’s sovereignty and territory must be respected. Putin’s actions are atrocious and totally unacceptable, and we strongly condemn them.

04/03: Commission suspends cooperation with Russia on research and innovation – European Commission

Following the Russian invasion against Ukraine and in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, the Commission has decided to suspend the cooperation with Russian entities in research, science and innovation.

06/03: KVIFF 2022: Karlovy Vary Film Festival Refuses Call to Ban All Russian Films – Film New Europe

The organisers of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival have announced that they will not boycott all Russian films at this year’s edition (1-9 July 2022) but will not screen Russian films or accept anyone who is associated with the Russian government or supports military aggression.

07/03: Netflix suspends service in Russia - BroadBand TV 

Netflix has decided to suspend its service in Russia in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

NextGenerationEU

01/03: NextGenerationEU: First annual report on the Recovery and Resilience Facility finds implementation is well underway – European Commission

The European Commission has today adopted its first annual report on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the centrepiece of NextGenerationEU. The RRF is providing up to €723.8 billion (in current prices) of grants and loans to Member States to support transformative investments and reforms that will enable the EU to emerge stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Digital Services Act

03/03: Digital Services Act: MEPs are ready to defend tougher regulations – The Parliament Magazine

The European Parliament and Council must find agreement over points of contention in the DSA. Here is a breakdown of what's at stake and what's next.

Remuneration

01/03: US companies dominating the EU market - less rights for authors? - SAA

During the pandemic lockdowns and quarantines, few paid attention to the consequences of the domination of the streaming and on-demand services by US interests: while the audience gets more content, European authors are being stripped of their right to royalties.

French Presidency of the EU

04/03: Informal meeting of ministers responsible for culture, media and the audiovisual sector – Council of the EU

This informal meeting of ministers responsible for culture, media and the audiovisual sector will address two separate topics. The first is the press and media sector and the second is cultural heritage. What are the challenges faced by these sectors? Can solutions be offered at European level?

Events:

11 March - Presentation of a pan European report on the future of the industry by the European Co-Production Forum, Brussels

15 March - Trilogue on the Digital Services Act

15 March - DG Competition deadline about Amazon MGM Merger

22-24 March - Dialogues of Lille, Series Mania Festival, with Vice President Vestager

28-29 March - UNIC Cinema Days 2022

March/April 2022 - Adoption of Council conclusions on building a European Strategy for the Cultural and Creative Industries

5-6 April - UKCA Conference

25-28 April - CinemaCon 2022

20-23 June - CineEurope 2022

ICFR Launches Emergency Fund

The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk has set up a special "Emergency Fund for Filmmakers" for film practitioners directly in danger due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. The Coalition and the Fund have been canvassing for funding and donations as soon as war broke out. In the past days, significant financial contributions have been pledged by Germany's key national and regional film funding bodies (100K EUR), by La Scam*, the Netherlands Film Fund, and by many individual donors.

Slovak Film Institute / National Cinematographic Centre would like to announce 11 Slovak film projects that will be presented at Works in Progress session during Bratislava Industry Days at Febiofest IFF on March 21.

The Slovenian Film Centre announced the following grants in January 2022.

The 9th edition of the Visegrad Film Forum will offer a diverse audiovisual programme for cineastes as well as industry professionals. Between 16–19 March 2022, cinema the Kino Lumière will be hosting film professionals who have worked on such titles as Batman, Pink Floyd: The Wall, Casino Royale, or Coffee and Cigarettes, to talk about the essence of success in world cinematography.

In 2022, the shooting of five live-action features is scheduled to begin: Observing (directed by Janez Burger), Father Figure (directed by Nejc Gazvoda), The Last Hero (directed by Žiga Virc), Hidden People (directed by Miha Hočevar), and Redemption (directed by Sonja Prosenc).