The alarm is coming from industry associations, cinema workers and the opposition, who are asking Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli to find a solution. The cinema industry in Italy has fallen into an unprecedented crisis. The resulting near-total paralysis is already having serious repercussions for the entire industry; There is a real risk that 2025 could turn out to be a disastrous year for employment, putting thousands of jobs at risk.
Directors and writers, as well as various technicians working on the sets, have signed a joint objection following the recent decision of the Lazio Regional Administrative Court blocking funding for the film industry.
“If concrete and urgent measures are not taken, the collapse of Italian cinema is inevitable,” condemns trade unions that demand the “immediate” activation of income support instruments for 2025; What is needed is the recognition and improvement of the contribution year and an effective welfare system that can “guarantee the economic survival of thousands of families dependent on this sector”.
In 2024, 66 percent of production came to a halt due to the government’s failure to announce Tex loan tenders. Now the TAR has put everything on hold, postponing the decision on the decrees removing the funding obstacle until March 2025. “It will be another year before cinemas start operating again,” they decried.
Chaos is complete because some productions have started working again under rules that could be canceled next March.
Opposition calls for urgent intervention from Minister Giuli
M5s are therefore calling on the minister to go to Parliament and explain “exactly what he wants to do”. The Democratic Party, which called on the minister to urgently inform the Parliament, also asks this: “What rules should a filmmaker follow? Can he start new projects, or should he continue to remain inactive due to the legislative chaos?” ?” is the question of dem deputy Matteo Orfini, who points out the “serious responsibilities” of the government. Orfini said: “The data is there for everyone to see: productions are halted, cinema factories are empty, workers are turning to other sectors for work, and large international productions are turning to other countries that compete with us.”
The trend is clear, which Elisabetta Piccolotti of Alleanza Verdi Sinistra also condemns: “Independent Italian productions, which have suffered until now, will die”. And he adds that there is only one solution: “To go back on the Tax Credit reform without waiting for the TAR, to go back on this deliberate murder of Italian cinema.”
Source: Today IT
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
