Film, video and photography
The Ministry of Culture is responsible for the field of film production, distribution and screening which is regulated by Law 1597/1986. There is a legal framework for the economic exploitation of cultural creativity through publishing, production of audiovisual works or public performance, defined by Law 2121/1993. Specific clauses regarding the regulation and support of the publishing industry, film, independent and state drama companies, and orchestras are included in Law 2557/1997. Moreover, Greece has ratified the European Convention for Cinema Co-productions (Law 3004/2002).
A new Law 3905/2010 for the Support and Development of Cinema Art which defines the principles of national policy in the cinema field and sets a new legal framework, taking into account developments of the last fifteen years in the field, and aiming to raise funding for productions through the effective use of resources, redistribution of available funding, reporting from the organisations funded, attraction of foreign productions and reduction of bureaucracy.
Mass media
Greece follows the European Union directive concerning content quotas, which, according to Greek legislation is interpreted as 50% of programming. A significant part of both public and private radio and TV programmes is in Greek and Greek popular music is as popular as ever. The public Radio and Television Corporation also dedicates a considerable amount of resources to original Greek productions. Indeed, quotas appear to be respected more consistently by the public broadcasting corporation ERT than by some of its privately-owned competitors.
On the other hand, foreign films and other programmes are shown, as a rule, in the original language with Greek subtitles, both in Greek television and in movie theatres. All in all, there appears to be a balance of Greek and foreign (mostly English language) programming on Greek television; the majority of the programmes are, as it is to be expected, mass culture oriented, but there are also interesting films, plays, talk shows and documentaries, especially shown on the public television, attracting an educated audience that makes a distinction on the basis of quality rather than programming language.
Law 1866/1989 stipulates the Creation of the National Council for Radio and Television, an independent administrative authority that supervises and regulates the radio / television market.
Comments are closed.