IRMO’s Department for Culture and Communication in cooperation with ZFF Industry organized a round table discussion entitled ‘Big Challenges for Small Cinematographies’ that was held on the 18th of December 2023 in Cultural Informational Centre (KIC). The round table gathered participants of the Horizon Europe project ‘Increasing the international competitiveness of the film industry in small European markets’ (CresCine): Jakob Isak Nielsen from the University of Aarhus, Denmark and Ivana Kostovska from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Belgium, and Martina Petrović, Head of the Creative Europe Desk – MEDIA Office Croatia. Jaka Primorac from the Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO) and the coordinator of the CresCine project team for Croatia moderated the discussion.
In the last couple of years, the film industry globally has faced a series of transformations at the level of production, distribution and consumption. The entrance of streaming services caused the most significant change in addition to the restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Especially in the North American context, we have also seen the labour force resistance to these changes in the form of screenwriters’ and actors’ strikes. It was discussed what all these changes mean for the film industry in countries with small production capacities, as well as the main challenges of film production and distribution in so-called ‘small countries’. Speakers presented how public policies respond to dynamic changes in the audio-visual field. The round table also touched upon the role of the most important program for the audio-visual industry in Europe, ‘MEDIA’, and the obstacles faced both by small cinematographies and MEDIA beneficiaries when applying for the MEDIA funds.
You can download the entire report from the round table here, and you can also watch a recording of the round table below.
