Supporting Film Distribution in Europe: Why Is Overcoming National Barriers so Difficult?

MEDIA and Eurimages are well-known supranational programs of the European Commission and the Council of Europe which aim at promoting the European film industry by encouraging the production and distribution of films and fostering cooperation between professionals. National film funds, however, still remain the most important mechanisms for supporting film in Europe. Typically, these funds prioritize support to film production over distribution in a national context. This chapter investigates the extent to which national support schemes have included measures to enable cross-border distribution, to what extent these support measures take the form of direct or indirect forms of support, and how differences in support mechanisms applied have been accentuated over time in the European Union. We find clear improvements of smaller nations in developing support mechanisms that target both domestic and cross-border distribution. Nevertheless, domestic production remains the dominant support focus of national film funds, with distribution support being restricted to promotion and marketing rather than substantial support for theaters, retailing, and online.