Nanni Moretti
“To my fellow producers and directors I would like to say that we should be more reactive towards the new terrible law on cinema.” At the Venice Film Festival, Nanni Moretti did not abandon his usual role as a committed director.
One of the legacies of the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano is precisely the revision of the mechanisms for granting tax credits for film and audiovisual production companies. Introduced several years ago, we immediately judged favorably the tax incentives for cinema. It was a matter of flanking the traditional state support carried out through direct subsidies with automatic “indirect” and therefore non-discretionary mechanisms (such as tax credits). Over the years, tax credits have become increasingly popular to the point of largely exceeding, in terms of resources, direct contributions. As regards the sources of financing for Italian films, in 2023 the tax credit was the main one, constituting 32 percent of the overall budgets.
The excess of such incentives has doped production, leading to an offer that is significantly oversized compared to demand. Some numbers: from 2019 to 2023, 1,354 cinematographic works benefited from the tax credit; 756 were released in theaters, while 598 films never reached theaters. Regardless of their aesthetic value, this should be enough to justify a review of the system. The tax credit has essentially favored an artificial boom. The declared objective of the new regulation is to intervene precisely on this point, introducing stringent requirements to benefit from the measure. Also in line with the more general “tightening” of the government in the granting of bonuses and various donations, in order to try to keep public finances under control.
While the intentions are more than understandable, it is difficult to delve into the evaluation of the various technicalities that follow one another in the 57 pages that make up the new regulation. The criticisms of many operators in the sector mainly concern the penalization of small businesses compared to larger ones. A criticism to which the Director of the General Directorate of Cinema and Audiovisual of the Ministry of Culture responded by stating that «the measures introduced allow for a greater balance to be achieved between the competitive development of the industry and the protection of the creativity of small and medium-sized productions, also thanks to the strengthening of selective contributions».
Faced with a reduced possibility of drawing on the tax credit, there will almost certainly be a reduction in the works produced and this explains the negative opinions from the “film workers”. But there is no “right” to make one’s own film and the reduction in public support could also favor the birth of a less conformist cinema, as is largely the Italian one.
As Gianni Canova, one of the few who did not show prejudice towards the reform, said: «If you really have a story to tell, the need to make your own film, you will find a way to convince someone to support you».
Ibl
Bruno Leoni Institute
