The directors Volker Schlöndorff, Tom Tykwer and Wim Wenders have addressed the Bundestag with a “wake-up call” in which they draw attention to the serious consequences of a film funding law that has not been passed. The current FFG expires at the end of the year; it regulates the fees paid by film publishers and the distribution for new productions. The new law is in danger of no longer getting through parliament after the traffic lights are switched off.
“German film is in grave danger,” write Schlöndorff, Tykwer and Wenders in their appeal. “You too probably go to the cinema every now and then or see a film on television, maybe even a German one. But that is no longer certain in the future. Due to the economic conditions, German production is no longer competitive, the best projects are moving abroad, where they are offered significant tax incentive measures.”
Directors, authors and actors would now have to turn to the streamers or could not continue working at all. A lot of talent and know-how is lost. “It is up to you, during this legislative period, to pass the new FFG and the two pillars on which it rests, namely the participation of streamers and tax incentive measures.”
The major film funding reform initiated by Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth in 2023 included, in addition to the amendment to the law, a tax incentive system, as is common in many countries, and an investment obligation for streaming services and media library providers, including public broadcasters.
For these two other pillars, however, the first reading had not even taken place in Parliament before the traffic light government was broken. It became apparent as early as October that they could only be implemented next year, if at all.
If the new law is not passed by December 31st, no more film taxes can be collected and no subsidies can be distributed in the new year, meaning that many productions would be stopped or could not start.
The signatories of the wake-up call are among the most renowned German filmmakers. Volker Schlöndorff won an Oscar for “The Tin Drum,” Wim Wenders was honored for his life’s work at the European Film Awards last weekend, and Tom Tykwer (“Babylon Berlin”) will open the Berlinale in February with his feature film “The Light.”