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CANNES 2016 Industry

25 years of MEDIA celebrated at Cannes

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- CANNES 2016: 23 productions present at this year’s gathering on the Côte d’Azur were backed by the EU programme

25 years of MEDIA celebrated at Cannes
l-r: Gunther H Oettinger, Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society; Nathalie Vandystadt, spokesperson (European Commission); Costa-Gavras, filmmaker; Pawel Pawlikowski, filmmaker (© Cyril Duchêne)

Under the slogan “We all love stories”, a series of videos are paying tribute to European audiovisual works in celebration of the 25th anniversary of MEDIA. In addition, internationally renowned directors such as Ken Loach, Pedro Almodóvar, Cristian Mungiu and the Dardenne brothers have been presenting their MEDIA-supported films in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. This year, ten of the 21 contenders for the Palme d'Or received support from the MEDIA programme, and in total, €1.5 million were invested in 23 Cannes contributions. Among them are Toni Erdmann [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Maren Ade
film profile
]
by Maren Ade, Julieta [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Pedro Almodóvar
film profile
]
by Pedro Almodóvar, The Unknown Girl [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
film profile
]
by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Slack Bay [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Bruno Dumont
film profile
]
by Bruno Dumont and The Neon Demon [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Nicolas Winding Refn
film profile
]
by Nicolas Winding Refn.

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In the last 25 years, 40 MEDIA-supported films have been awarded Cannes’ top prizes, such as the Grand Prix for La belle noiseuse by Jacques Rivette in 1991 and for Son of Saul [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: László Nemes
interview: László Rajk
film profile
]
by László Nemes in 2015. Since it was launched, the EU’s MEDIA programme has invested over €2.4 billion in European creativity and cultural diversity. "The MEDIA programme has played an essential role in helping European films to reach new audiences across borders,” stated Andrus Ansip, Vice-President for the Digital Single Market. "We need to build on this success and foster the circulation of content in Europe with the right EU framework. Digital developments bring opportunities and challenges for the audiovisual sector; we need to find solutions together to boost the legal offering online and fight piracy.”

In view of the strategy to create a Digital Single Market, Günther H Oettinger, Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, pointed out that the MEDIA programme is also constantly adapting to the needs of the sector. “In June, we will launch a €121 million guarantee facility for the cultural and creative sectors that will be open to audiovisual projects. It is expected to generate more than €600 million worth of bank loans." 

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