Press release

Strasbourg, 16 April 2002

Report by the European Audiovisual Observatory for the Conference "The Film and Television Sector in the European Union and Third Countries" organised by the Spanish Presidency of the European Union (Madrid, 18-19 April 2002).

DISTRIBUTION OF THIRD COUNTRY FILMS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION (1996-2002)

• Between 1996 and 2001, 42 films from Central and Eastern European countries have received commercial distribution in at least one of the Member States of the European Union. These 42 films achieved 2.2 million admissions in the Union, or a market share of 0.054%.
  
  
• During the same period, 54 films from countries of the Mediterranean basin, not members of the European Union, received commercial distribution in at least one of the Member States of the European Union. These 54 films achieved 3.5 million admissions in the Union, or a market share of 0.084%.
  
  
• Still during the same period, 75 films from Latin America received commercial distribution in at least one of the Member States of the European Union. These 75 films achieved 6 million admissions, or a market share of 0.14%.

The Spanish Presidency of the European Union asked the European Audiovisual Observatory to prepare a report on the distribution of films in Europe, and in particular of the films of third countries. The Observatory has analysed the area occupied by the films of third countries in three groupings of countries which are partners to the European Union : the Associated Countries of Central and Eastern Europe currently in negotiation for the entry into the European Union, the countries of the Mediterranean basin, which are not members of the Union, and the countries of Latin America. From its LUMIERE database (http://lumiere.obs.coe.int), which provides detailed information on the admissions of films having been in commercial distribution in Europe since 1996, the Observatory has analysed the area occupied by the films of these three groupings in the European Union market between 1996 and 2001.

We know very well that the European Union films market is largely dominated by American films (whose market share has fluctuated depending on the year between 66% and 77%). Overall in the European Union, the share of national films of their own markets is generally of the order of 15% to 20%, the share of European films outside their own national markets varies between a margin of 8% to 10%. European films from outside the Union and the rest of the world have to share, depending on the year, from 1% to 4% of the European Union market. Within this narrow margin what space is there for the films of the three zones under consideration?

It is probably one of the saddest paradoxes of recent years: while the return to democracy in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe at the end of the 1980s aroused enormous hopes of an opening up and cultural cooperation, it must be recognised that the market reality has been more than disappointing. Only 42 films produced in Central and Eastern Europe since 1996 have received effective commercial distribution in at least one of the fifteen Member States of the Union during the last six years. This represents 0.7% of the new films distributed in the European Union during this period.

Table 1. Number and origin of the films of the Associated Countries distributed in the European Union (1996-2001)

These 42 films obtained 2.2 million admissions in the Union, or a market share of 0.054%. And moreover it should be appreciated that two thirds of these admissions were achieved by a single film, Kolya (CZ/GB/FR) in 1997! Of the twenty films which achieved the largest number of admissions in the European Union, there can be found only two films produced in 2000 or 2001, which disturbingly shows a thorough drought.

The Czech films are the ones which benefit relatively from access to the Union market, since of the 42 films, 13 originated in the Czech Republic while only 9 Polish films and 7 Hungarian films have been distributed. Three Latvian films and three Romanian films have been distributed in at least one country. The Czech films obtained 71.5% of the admissions of the Associated Countries, Hungarian films 10.7%, Polish films 8.7%, Latvian films 5.9% and Romanian films 2.6%.

Table 2. Admissions obtained by films originating in the Associated Countries in the European Union (1996-2001)

Table 3. The 20 films of the Associated Countries of Central and Eastern Europe obtaining the highest number of admissions in the European Union (1996-2001)

Graph 1. Breakdown of admissions in the European Union of the films of the Associated Countries of Central and Eastern Europe by origin (1996-2001) (in %)

Graph 2. Geographical breakdown in the European Union of the admissions of the films of the Associated Countries of Central and Eastern Europe (1996-2001)

Thanks to the success of Kolya, Germany appears to be the most receptive market for films from the East, which achieved 41.7% of their Union admissions in this market. But it is in fact France which offers the greatest opportunities to films from the East, since 24 of the 39 films have been distributed there, against only 8 in Germany and in Italy and 7 in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

During the same years 1996-2001, 54 films from the countries of the Mediterranean basin which are not members of the European Union have received commercial distribution in at least one of the Member States of the European Union. These 54 films obtained 3.5 million admissions in the Union, or a market share of 0.084%.

The four main exporters are Turkey (9 films), Egypt and Israel (8 films) and Morocco (7 films).

The most striking phenomenon about the films from these countries is the position held by France as their potential market : almost two thirds (65.9%) of the admissions obtained by these films in the European Union market have been in France alone. With only 16.1% of Union admissions for these films, Germany comes a distant second, followed by Italy (10.8%). As a corollary to their reception in France, Mediterranean films achieve almost as many admissions in little Belgium (3.1%) as in Great Britain (1.6%) and Spain (1.7%).

Table 4. Number and origin of the films from Mediterranean countries distributed in the European Union (1996-2001)

Table 5. Number of admissions obtained in the European Union of films from the Mediterranean countries (1996-2001)

Graph 3. Breakdown of admissions in the European Union of Mediterranean films by origin (1996-2001)

Graph 4. Geographical breakdown of admissions in the European Union of Mediterranean films (1996-2001)

Two directors are veritable emblems of the Mediterranean film industries: the Egyptian Youssef Chahine whose El-Massir (Destiny) achieved almost 600,000 admissions in the Union market and the Israeli Amos Gitai, four of whose films are among the award winners of the Mediterranean films, have achieved the greatest success in the European Union.

It is certainly a matter for satisfaction that Destiny and Kadosh, two films critical of religious fundamentalism, were the two most popular Mediterranean films in the European Union. But at the same time it may be noted that the potential audience for non-Union Mediterranean films probably does not exceed a million in the Union. That is to say that the films of these countries do not reach, or very little, the immigrant populations which constitute one of the major sociological and cultural components of the Union's population. Respectable though they are, the 273,000 admissions for Little Senegal by the Algerian Raschid Bouschaeb or the 240,000 admissions for Eskyia by the Turkish Yavuz Turgi show that much remains to be done to provide the Union's immigrant populations with access to the films of their countries of origin.

Table 6. The 20 Mediterranean films obtaining the highest number of admissions in the European Union (1996-2001)

75 Latin-American films have been distributed in at least one country of the European Union between 1996 and 2001. Three countries are the main exporters : Argentina (27 films), Mexico (17 films) and Brazil (12 films). The films of the Latin-American countries have obtained 6 million admissions in the European Union, or a market share of 0.14%.

Table 7. Number and origin of the Latin-Americans films distributed in the European Union (1996-2001)

Of the three principal exporting countries it is Brazil which has obtained the greatest share of the European Union market : 36.5%, thanks to the success of Central do Brasil by Walter Salles. This film is the only Latin-American film to have had a really successful European run in the six years covered here, and, with its 1.6 million admissions, accounts by itself for 30.7% of the admissions obtained by Latin-American films in the Union market. It is a phenomenon similar to that seen with Kolya for the Central and Eastern European films. Curiously these two road movies where a child and an elderly and confused adult meet have a common narrative thread.

Table 8. Breakdown of the admissions of Latin-American films distributed in the European Union (1996-2001)

Graph 5. Breakdown of the admissions in the European Union of Latin-American films by origin (1996-2001

The market share of Hispanophone films is divided basically between Argentina (25.7%), Mexico (21.2%) and Cuba (13.9%). Some films from these countries have been distributed in several European countries. Films from Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Guatemala and one from the Republic of San Domingo share the remainder of the market, but in most cases have only been distributed in Spain and/or France.

Graph 6. Geographical breakdown of the admissions of Latin-American films in the European Union (1996-2001)

As might be expected, Spain constitutes the most receptive market for Latin-American films, which obtain in that country more than half of their Union admissions (55.4%). The market position of France (18% of Union admissions) and that of Italy (10.7%) confirm the importance of the Latin area for the reception of South American films in Europe.

Table 9. The 20 Latin-American films obtaining the highest number of admissions in the European Union (1996-2001)

The analysis of the three lists of the 20 films with the highest number of admissions in the European Union clearly shows the importance of coproductions in reaching the European market : out of 60 films, 48 benefited from being coproduced with at least one of the Member States of the European Union. France was involved in 31 of these coproductions, Spain in 11, Germany in 9, the United Kingdom in 3, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands in 2, and Austria in one single one. Account should also be taken of the films (not included in our aggregate) which were majority coproductions from the countries of the European Union, but which have allowed directors from the areas in this study to complete their films. We can cite in this category Crna macka, beli macor (FR/DE/YU) by the Yugoslavian Emir Kusturica (2.2 million admissions in the European Union), Hamam (IT/TRES) and Harem Suare (IT/FR/TR) by the Turkish Ferzan Ospetek (837,710 and 288,438 admissions respectively in the European Union), Few of Us (FR/LT/DE/PT) by the Lithuanian Sharunas Bartas (28,777 admissions) or even Dolce farniente (FR/IT/BE/RO) by the Romanian Nae Carafil (7,455 admissions). Finally a certain number of films from the three geographical areas in this study have been completed thanks to coproduction support from countries in the European Union, but have only been distributed in their own countries.

European practitioners often complain about the difficulty their films experience in reaching the screens of the United States and the very small share achieved by European films in that market. Over the period under consideration the market share of European films in the United States and Canada has swung between 2.7% (in 1995) and 6.7% (in 1999). According to the report by the European Observatory, the market share of the films from the three areas in privileged partnership with the European Union (the Associated Countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean countries and the Latin-American countries) has not exceeded, over the period reported, 0.3%!

That is to say that for films from third countries other than the United States, Canada, Australia and Japan, the European market remains tightly closed, more closed than the North American market itself is to European films.

Many causes clearly contribute to this situation. The cultural and linguistic fragmentation of the European market, its domination by American films and the virtual absence of a proper European distribution structure already mean that Europe is closed to itself. The reasons which explain the poor distribution of European films are also valid for films from the third countries under consideration - but also for films originating elsewhere : Russian films, African films, Asian films. In addition there is the fact that all the "other" film industries are in vigorous competition with each other for a potentially limited audience: an audience which might be estimated at one or two million more or less of interested cinephiles, prepared to watch films in foreign languages, frequently using different codes of film language, at variance with Hollywood and national norms.

Note on Methodology

The figures in the press release are obtained by the European Audiovisual Observatory from the statistics provided in the LUMIERE (http://lumiere.obs.coe.int) database, created by the Observatory in collaboration with a network of specialised national sources and with the MEDIA Programme of the European Union. For the European Union the LUMIERE database coverage rate is in excess of 90%. The gaps come from a certain number of countries whose figures are virtually non-existent (Greece, Ireland, Portugal) or significantly incomplete (Italy). According to our estimates the gaps affect the admissions for North American films more than European films. In certain countries (Austria, Finland,...), figures exist for only the 100 leading films. It is possible that in this case the distribution of third country films has evaded the analysis. It should also be noted that the figures for 2001 are not yet available in a complete form.

The percentages of market share are calculated on the basis of the total of the data compiled in the base and not in relation to the total of actual admissions. Only films produced from 1996 are take into account. With coproductions only the nationality of the main coproducing country is taken into account.

Set up in December 1992, the European Audiovisual Observatory's goal is to gather and distribute information on the audiovisual industry in Europe. The Observatory is a European public service body comprised of 35 member states and the European Community. It operates within the legal framework of the Council of Europe and it works alongside a number of partner organisations, professional organisations from within the industry and a network of correspondents. In addition to its contribution in conferences other major activities are the publication of statistics and newsletters, compilation of databases and information readily available on the web portal.