Miquel Iceta announces that the Cinema Law will be approved on Tuesday in the Council of Ministers: “We have given the murga and we are going to do it”

The Minister of Culture, Miquel Iceta, has announced that on Tuesday the Council of Ministers will approve a new Law on Cinema. “We got engaged before the end of the year and we have given the murga until we really On December 27 we will approve the Cinema Law“, has indicated in an interview in the ‘Chain Being‘.

In this sense, he added that the independent producers“who are the ones who complained in some way about the audiovisual law”, they will find that the definition of producers is “very favorable” to his approach. Thus, Iceta has defended the need to have two laws (Cinema Law and Audiovisual Law) because, as he has said, “each one regulates one thing”. “The Audiovisual Law sets forth the obligations of audiovisual service providers and the Film Law will regulate the criteria of the public policies of promotion of cinematography“, has explained.

The law –approved at the proposal of the First Vice President and Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, and the Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta– aims to adapt the regulations to the advances and transformations that the sector has experienced in the last years, aligning with European regulations in the matter.

Among the main novelties is the extension of the calls for aid to the entire value chain of the sector audiovisual, support for the international promotion of all audiovisuals, and not just films, and the protection of heritage. Hence, the new title of the law, which adds the concept of audiovisual culture to that of cinema.

cultural balance

On the other hand, Iceta has taken stock of 2022 in cultural management, and has recognized that there have been milestones, such as the Golden Bear of ‘Alcarràs’, but that there are still things to do. “It has been a good year from many points of viewbut in some things no. I also have the obligation to say that it has not gone so well. We have not returned to the cinema as we had gone“, he lamented.

One of the concerns of the minister, as he has pointed out, is inflation and how it can affect the cultural sector. “It is a great concern. We have to make a great effort to embrace the culture, let it embrace us and respect the value of what our creators do. I get a little heavy, but copyright is important. Nothing is free If we want to continue enjoying creation, creators must be able to live from their work“, he has defended.

Likewise, it has advanced that in the first Council of Ministers of 2023 the Artist Statute could be approved and progress will be made in the revision of the contribution criteria for cultural workers. “One of the things that defines cultural activity is the intermittence and we must adapt our laws to this fluctuating activity”, he specified.

With respect to Cultural BonusIceta has reaffirmed the importance of the measure and He has considered it “a success”, at the same time as “very insufficient”, because not all young people have been able to access it. “Being the first call, it is a success, but very insufficient. When a game is enabled, what you want is to spend it. And I am not going to spend it all. Precisely because there have been many young people who have not been able to access the bonus. It was the first year and we paid for the hazing, sure”, he has sentenced.