Directors zoom in on cinema bill
Top Greek filmmakers, including Costa-Gavras and Theo Angelopoulos, sent an open letter to the prime minister yesterday slamming the government’s draft law on cinema and complaining they had not been consulted before it was drawn up. The letter was sent to Costas Karamanlis, who doubles as Greece’s culture minister, by the Association of Greek Film Directors (EES). The filmmakers argue that the bill is «regressive» and could turn out to be «destructive» for Greek cinema. The directors claim the bill only offers financial incentives to foreign filmmakers looking to shoot blockbuster movies in Greece. They want less state intervention in the film industry and ask for measures to help Greek movies flourish. «The bill was drawn up with no input from the people involved in the field,» EES President Haris Papadopoulos told Kathimerini. «They decided in secret about us.» EES asked Karamanlis to withdraw the bill before it passes into law and launch a wider discussion with people from the film industry.
