📨 Global Stars Demand Protection for European Cinema
More than 4,700 film industry professionals—including titans such as Francis Ford Coppola, Juliette Binoche, Sandra Hüller, and Stellan Skarsgård—have signed an open letter addressed to European Union leadership.
Their primary demand is to safeguard and maintain the independence of the MEDIA program, which has served as the financial bedrock of European cinema for 35 years.
The Threat of Consolidation
The protest was sparked by EU plans to merge budgets for culture, media, and civil society into a single fund called AgoraEU. Under this reform, the MEDIA program would be consolidated into a new division known as Media+, which would also oversee funding for video games, news media, and journalism.
Filmmakers fear that within this collective “pot”—projected to be worth between €8.6 billion and €10.7 billion for the 2028–2034 period—funds specifically intended for film production will be diverted to other sectors or distributed in favor of tech giants.
Europe at Risk of Losing its “Oscars”
The authors of the letter, titled “Europe Needs Cinema, Cinema Needs Europe,” emphasize that the MEDIA program has been the driving force behind nearly every significant European film success of recent decades. The text cites recent 2026 Oscar winners, such as Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, the animated feature Flow, and the documentary Mr. Nobody Against Putin.
“Thanks to MEDIA, Europe wins an Oscar almost every year. Without artistic creation, there are no shared values, no democracy, and no European ‘soft power,’” the signatories declare.
Cannes as a Political Stage
The publication of the letter coincides with the opening of the 79th Cannes Film Festival on May 12. Symbolically, this was the same day EU member states were scheduled to announce their initial positions on the AgoraEU project.
The list of signatories includes many participants in this year’s Cannes competition, such as Paweł Pawlikowski, Lukas Dhont, Arthur Harari, and Rodrigo Sorogoyen. They are joined by Croisette regulars including Ruben Östlund, Yorgos Lanthimos, Agnieszka Holland, and Michel Hazanavicius.
The future of the MEDIA program promises to be the dominant topic of discussion in the festival’s corridors this year.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
