Press Release: The European Commission supports cinema in the ACP countries

Development is education, health, access to water, infrastructure. But development is also culture. So it is also cinema. The European Commission has decided to fund a new EU-ACP support programme for cinema and the audiovisual industry under the 9th European Development Fund (EDF). Directors and others working in the film and television industries will receive grants from the multi-annual programme with a fund of €6.5 million. The aim is to promote the development and structuring of the film and audiovisual industries in the ACP countries and enable directors and others working in the sector to distribute their work more effectively. In this way the programme will help to protect cultural diversity, highlight the cultural identities of the ACP countries and promote inter-cultural dialogue.