On 14 October the Italian entertainment industry took a stand to protest at the 40% cut in the Single Fund for Entertainment (FUS) provided for in the 2006 Finance Act. With the slogan ‘Shut for a day so you don’t ever shut’, many cinemas, theatres and concert halls decided to close for 24 hours. Other owners kept their venues open but did bear a black armband as a sign of protest.

There was strong participation by artistes, ‘finally united’, as the actor Massimo Ghini observed in his speech, and by trade unions and politicians, many of whom took part in the national demonstration organised by Agis, the Italian association for entertainment, near the Capranica conference centre in Rome. The demonstration was then followed by a march to the Chigi palace, led by Sabina Guzzanti.

Paradoxically, the only disruptive element was Benigni’s film (Benigni himself participated actively in the protest and took part at the Capranica). The release of one of the season’s most eagerly anticipated films (The Tiger and the Snow) nearly compromised the success of the strike by the cinemas. Many exhibitors, affected for several months by a crisis in attendance, did not want to shut their cinemas. Some abandoned the strike. Others decided to make do with cancelling the afternoon’s screenings.

Whatever the case, the Finance Act has produced a historical first: in response to the cut in the FUS, the entertainment industry has united, rallying together entrepreneurs, artistes and salaried workers.
(adapted from La Repubblica)

4 exhibitors from the Europa Cinemas network reveal here, before the strike, their willingness to take part in it.

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1 – What types of activity and scheduling are you developing in your cinemas?
2 – Will you take part in the strike, and why?
3 – In your opinion, what is the situation with Italian cinema today?

Francesco Morsiani (Filmstudio 7B, Modena)

1 – The cinema has just one screen and belongs to a cultural association which has existed since the 1950s and has managed the cinema since 1984. Only art house films are screened. Since the launch of the Truffaut cinema, which organises conferences and workshops, the 7B has focused on the most important art house releases, except for on Mondays which are devoted to films from the previous year that were not released in Modena.
The situation in Modena is a little special since there are only 2 cinemas on one side (ours and the Truffaut). All the others are managed by one owner who has a sort of monopoly. So it is always more difficult for us to get hold of films which interest us and unfortunately we sometimes also have to show films which do not fall into our preferred genre. Our cinema is in a precarious situation. We get a small contribution from the city of Modena, from Europa Cinemas and from the FUS, but single-screen cinemas are always more insecure in Italy since management costs are high.

2 – We shall take part in the strike, not for the few pennies we shall lose but as a point of principle and for morale. We would like to make people think more about the problem of culture in Italy and for that reason we are joining forces with all parts of the entertainment industry, solidly and convincingly. In our city only the Truffaut and the 7B will strike.

3 – In my opinion, Italian cinema today does not manage to achieve great qualitative results. Contents and subject matter do not take risks. Just 2 or 3 films a year have much in the way of depth. For that reason, our scheduling is based on a selection of art house films, but most of these films come from Europe and very few from Italy.


Salvatore Cordaro (Aurora cinema and Igiea Lido cinema, Palermo)

1 – Our cinemas schedule almost exclusively films d’auteur and have good attendance since they are the city’s only cinemas to screen quality films. We organise events to run alongside screenings (for example, animation, workshops, previews and other special events).

2 – I am taking part in the strike because the new government measures would penalise primarily quality cinema and our scheduling would suffer from them directly. The reduction in the FUS would also represent a radical cut in financing for the art house cinema circuit of which we are a part. We shall shut the cinema on Friday 14 October, the release date of the new Benigni film which was planned for our screens. I think almost all cinema exhibitors, even the multiplexes, will be mobilized.

3 – Today films d’auteur in Italy are much stronger and more incisive than commercial films whose success is linked particularly to national festivities.


Sergio Oliva (Anteo Spaziocinema, Milan)

1 – Our cinemas aim to provide a programme of films which are often accompanied by workshops, debates and a course of cinema classes given by the director himself. Our cinema wishes to be a place of meeting and confrontation.

2 – We will take part in the strike because, besides the small cuts which will affect national art house cinemas, we will suffer directly if producers are deprived of support for a certain type of film. Generally, there will be a feeling of a lack of cultural enrichment. But to deal with these cuts we do not have the option of increasing admission prices further, given the unbridled competition of home video and satellite channels, etc.
Before these proposals were made by the government there had been no real study to gain understanding of the potential consequences of such a decision. It is extremely important to confront clearly and directly the question of the importance of culture in our country. Does it contribute to the development of our country?
There will not be full participation in the strike and it will not involve all exhibitors: multiplexes, for example, have shown little interest since they will be affected less by the new Finance Act.

3 – The cuts provided for in the new Finance Act will pose a threat to production in general, but it also follows that less well-known cinematography will suffer from them more, since blockbusters will have less trouble finding funds elsewhere.


Dario Salvatori (Olimpia cinema, Quattro Fontane cinema (Circuito Cinema), Rome)

1 – Our cinemas offer art house films. We have good repeat business from loyal audiences. Quattro Fontane, as well as organising many activities for schools, is available for many press screenings and for workshops and debates with actors and directors.

2 – The whole of the Circuito Cinema network is participating solidly in the strike. The protest is not just about the small cut in financing which we could suffer but is, in reality, a movement of solidarity with the Italian entertainment industry. Naturally, for the cinema, it will be art house films and first films which will be penalised the most, and as a result our scheduling will become weaker.
There is great confusion around participation in the strike among exhibitors, in particular for multiplexes who are of course less affected by the new plan. In reality, in Italy, exhibition is very fragmented and it is difficult to come up with joint policies.
The release of The Tiger and the Snow will surely be a point of dissuasion from participating in the strike, especially for smaller towns.

3 – Italian production is low. Just 2 or 3 Italian films are big events each year.

The interviews were held in October 2005 by Silvia Ricciardi, with the collaboration of Isabelle Hervouët