0 | Introduction

The Czech Republic has been a member of the EU MEDIA programme since July 2002. As part of this programme, MEDIA Desk Czech Republic, a national representation office, was opened in Prague on 2 January, 2003. The aim of this brochure is to introduce the programme to all who are interested in Czech film making.

Compared to 2004, in 2005 the number of applicants for support and consequently the number of beneficiaries remained approximately on the same level. This situation can be attributed to the size of the Czech audiovisual market and I believe that we will witness no major change in the coming years. In the MEDIA Distribution, Promotion and Training programmes, the numbers of applicants and beneficiaries remain rather stable with only the number of projects supported under the MEDIA Development programme changing in relation to the number of the films developed. The Czech Republic draw the maximum amount of 2005 support our audiovisual sector was eligible for.

I would like to use this opportunity to say that I am grateful to all people helping the MEDIA Desk to achieve these results. First of all I would like to thank the Ministry of Culture and the European Commission for the financial support without which the office would not operate. I hope that our cooperation will successfully continue in the coming years. But most of all I hope that Czech projects will remain as successful as they have been in the past in gaining support under the MEDIA programme.

In 2005, all activities of the MEDIA Desk were aimed at creating the best possible conditions for Czech film professionals, allowing not only experienced applicants but also newcomers to be successful with their applications. Given the nature of the Czech audiovisual sector this aim was met mainly by the MEDIA Development and MEDIA Distribution programmes. Also, we tried to engage more Czech professionals in the MEDIA Training programme and in cooperation on further projects funded by the MEDIA programme. Thanks to an on-going information and advertising campaign we managed to keep the audiovisual sector, professional public and political bodies aware of the MEDIA programme and EU audiovisual policy.

The following specific figures illustrate the level at which we met the set goals. The Czech projects submitted in 2005 were granted EUR 1,146,578 under the EU MEDIA programme.

Once again, the highest amount of EUR 388,933 was granted to film distributors, mainly thanks to the system of automatic support. The following films have been distributed in the Czech Republic with financial contribution from the MEDIA programme: Manderlay (Film Distribution Artcam), Erasmus 2 (SPI) or a Hungarian animated cartoon Nyócker! (CinemArt). For the first time in the history of Czech membership in the programme, our distributors were also granted automatic support for release of European works in video/DVD formats in an amount exceeding EUR 70,000. Also for the first time, a documentary project gained support in the area of distribution the Troublemaking Genius project was granted EUR 50,000 under the underutilised MEDIA TV Broadcasting programme.

Under the MEDIA Promotion – Festival Support programme we achieved a 100% success rate while getting one of the largest amounts of support. Many film festivals were granted repeated financing – Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival, Zlín International Film Festival for Children and Youth, One World, Anifest and Summer Film School. For the first time ever, Fresh Film Fest, an international student film festival, was organised with MEDIA support.

A large amount of EUR 80,000 under the MEDIA Promotion – Market Access programme was once again granted to the Institute of Documentary Film for its Ex Oriente Film Promotional Programme, within the framework of which the Institute organises for example the East European Forum, an exchange of ideas within the framework of the Jihlava festival. The IDF also received support under the MEDIA Training for its Ex Oriente Film project intended for documentary makers from CEE countries. For the second consecutive year, support under the MEDIA Training was granted to TransISTor, the only Czech new media teaching programme.

In contrast to the above, the MEDIA Development received lower support as compared to 2004 with 11 projects receiving EUR 295,000. However, the key indicator – level of success – remained the same as in 2004. The smaller amount in 2005 is caused by the fact that fewer companies applied for support in that particular year. New films supported by the MEDIA programme in the Czech Republic will include for example a new film by Václav Marhoul Tobruk, or films by Petr Václav and Bohdan Sláma, part of a slate of projects submitted by the Negativ production company.

2005 witnessed the launch of the first film ever made with the support of the MEDIA programme – Lunacy (Šílení) by Jan Švankmajer. Other completed films – Fimfárum 2 and Indian and a Nurse (Indián a sestřička) were launched in 2006. The film Grandhotel is still waiting for its launch later this year.

The past year 2005 saw an increase in the involvement of Czech audiovisual professionals in MEDIA programme activities. Funding from this programme increased as well. These results were achieved thanks to MEDIA Desk, a successfully established office providing information, service and I would say achieving its mission, and also thanks to authors, producers, cinema operators, festival organisers as well as other professionals in the audiovisual sphere. They all learnt how to use the opportunities offered by the MEDIA programmes. This can be said with satisfaction.

It was also a year of accelerated onset of digital technologies, bringing the prospect of revolutionary changes to the audiovisual area. It is important to be able to react to these changes in an operative manner – in the spheres of development, production, distribution, as well as legislation.

It is fair to say that continuous enhancement of technical parameters, improvement and extension of services provided to users also bring certain problems. I am talking about for example a dramatic decrease in cinema audience numbers, difficulties with overcoming cultural, trade and other barriers hindering more substantial penetration of Czech audiovisual works to the world, increased frequency of illegal copying and dissemination of these works. I therefore believe that involvement in the MEDIA programme will help us solve these problems and that it will be reflected particularly in the focus and structure of the next cycle of this programme, prepared for the period of 2007–2013.