BRAZIL: Culture Ministry Proposal Aimed at Bringing Cinema to All

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 30 2004 (IPS) - The Brazilian government is drafting a bill aimed at strengthening the national audiovisual industry and bringing movies to the 90 percent of the population that now lives in areas that have no cinemas.

But the leading TV networks, movie theatres and distributors have lashed out against the bill, through which the administration of leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva plans to create a National Filmmaking and Audiovisual Institute (ANCINAV) to regulate and promote the industry.

Culture Minister Gilberto Gil, one of Brazil’s legendary singer-songwriters, called on all sectors concerned to engage in debate and dialogue on the bill, which he said took a team of experts 14 months to draw up, based on ideas provided by representatives of the industry.

He added that the proposed bill will be open to suggestions and modifications for two months before it is submitted to Congress. To stimulate debate, the Culture Ministry has created a web site to allow anyone interested to express their concerns.

The giants dominating the industry have called the bill "authoritarian" and said it would impose too much state control. But Gil pointed out that he had been "politically persecuted" (during Brazil’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship) and would never become a "persecutor".

The proposal, which considers the audiovisual industry "strategic" for the national culture, economy and sovereignty, says it thus requires special treatment, including protection and incentives. To that end, special funds would be created, financed by taxes on movie theatres and TV stations.

The aim is "to regulate the relations between the various agents" in the sector, building a climate conducive to growth, and eliminating obstacles in order to convert "the immense potential" of Brazil’s audiovisual industry into reality, said Gil.

ANCINAV will be created once the government overcomes resistance from those who "want a monopoly on broadcasting," said Assunçao Hernandes, a producer in Sao Paulo who chaired the Brazilian Congress of Filmmaking, in which the concept of a regulatory agency began to take shape in 2000.

Many who say ANCINAV will be used to "control" the industry are precisely those who, through their power, "exercise control and censorship" on TV, by only airing those films that fit with their interests, Hernandes told IPS.

The producer accused Brazil’s main TV station, Globo, which has an empire of radio stations, newspapers and magazines, of heading the opposition to the bill, along with the U.S. distributors that dominate the cinema and TV film market.

The Globo media empire takes in 78 percent of all advertising revenues in Brazil, said Hernandes.

TV stations are opposed to the proposed four percent tax on their billing, and movie theatres, worried about losing spectators, are resisting the proposed 10 percent tax on each ticket they sell. The taxes would finance a fund to promote the national audiovisual industry.

"They all want to keep up their short-term profits, without realising that their revenues will grow if the industry is developed and strengthened and the number of cinemas around the country is increased thanks to the new regulations," said Hernandes.

There are now around 1,800 cinemas in this country of 178 million people – slightly more than half of the total of 30 years ago. More than 90 percent of Brazil’s 5,560 municipalities have no movie theatre. Other Latin American countries, like Argentina and Mexico, have twice the number of cinemas with respect to the population.

The development fund would help build thousands of movie theatres around the country, which would charge a ticket price of one-third, or even less, of the current average fee of two dollars. That would generate an increase in the number of spectators and would create a scale that would be to everyone’s benefit, said Hernandes.

Through decentralisation, the bill would also foment local production and diversification of content, hence creating more jobs.

Another clause in the proposed bill that has drawn opposition would force free-to-air TV stations to broadcast at least one nationally produced feature-length film per week. Today, the stations virtually never include Brazilian productions in their programming, which is monopolised by Hollywood films.

The U.S. distributors, meanwhile, are up in arms against the proposed tax of 3,000 reals (1,000 dollars) on each copy of a film exhibited. Today, the tax is applied to each foreign film as a flat rate, no matter how many copies are distributed.

"It’s not fair for a superproduction that is invading the market with over 200 copies to pay the same as a film that has distributed just a few dozen copies," because the difference in profits they rake in is enormous, said Hernandes.

The competition is unequal and "unfavourable" to Brazilian audiovisual production in its own market, said Minister Gil. Hollywood films, which have already recouped their investments in the United States, are sold to Brazilian TV stations at ridiculously low prices.

Nor is there fair competition among national productions. The films produced by Globo enjoy the broad advertising of the rest of the network, which the rest are unable to afford, said Hernandes.

The taxes proposed in the ANCINAV bill are low compared to those charged in other countries, said Sergio Sá Leitao, a special adviser to the Culture Ministry.

He pointed out that in France, TV stations are taxed 16 percent of what they bill, and cinemas 11 percent. In Australia, meanwhile, 55 percent of TV programming must consist of national content.

Brazilian films accounted for less than 10 percent of national box office revenues in the past few years, with the exception of last year, when the proportion climbed to an exceptionally high 21 percent, due to the success of several popular nationally produced films.

The goal of ANCINAV, according to Hernandes, is to do what developed countries – especially the United States – have done: protect their own markets and develop a strong national audiovisual industry.