Recent quality film and the future of the republic of Europe

Abstract

umanistici e del patrimonio Culturale, university of udine, udine, italy This special issue provides a glimpse into the way recent European quality film originally participates in renegotiations of the social and political Project Europe, with its generous democratization process and transnationally shared cultural and economic goals. The stimulation of quality film-making has been on the political agenda of the EU for a while and followed more or less explicitly, two priorities: integration and competitiveness. Taking this stimulation into account, our goal is definitely not limited to showing how recent European cinema serviced EU priorities as soft-power controlled art. Animated by our own belief in the European project, we aim to reveal the way film-makers and their public art moved forward European concerns. We also try to trace the way films articulate deviation and excess of and within signification-sometimes divergent or critical of EU priorities-which not only raises awareness of various issues independent of the EU or national states agenda, but also performs the counter-ideological work of gesturing towards the misleading questions and challenges that animate the quest for political, ethical, economic and aesthetic value in current-day Europe (Žižek 2006). Examples of EU support of the first priority-to spur European identity and integrationare initiatives such as Europa Cinemas and the Council of Europe's Eurimages, which support production, distribution and exhibition of European quality film across the continent. Another example is the European Commission's (EC) Creative Europe programme. With a 201,4-mil. budget, it describes itself as offering "grants for project (sic) which aims to foster the safeguarding and promotion of European cultural and linguistic diversity" and which supports all aspects of film creative culture, from content development and international coproductions to film education and organization of festivals. 1 EU interest in strengthening the European brand of filmmaking in terms of both box-office and geo-strategic service-the second priority-is exemplified by the EC's MEDIA program, established back in 1987 and renewed in 1995 (Jäckel 2003). Its list of goals includes the training of media professionals to generate a 'stronger European audiovisual sector' , as well as to develop, distribute, promote and exhibit projects and 'new technologies' , which includes support for the cinematic output of countries with lower production rates. 2 Emphasis on new technologies concerns the present and future adventures of European film in the apparently unpredictable waters of the forthcoming European single digital market and in the real-existing and multiple global one. It expresses the EC's worry that the industry