Representatives from the film and audiovisual sectors across the world have released a statement and launched a global petition. In it, they urge all governments to stand firm and safeguard the systems that support independent film and audiovisual creation so that culture, creativity, and democratic access to diverse stories for the screen can continue to flourish.

European professional organisations of the audiovisual and cultural sectors welcome the clarifications brought by the European Parliament on Article 20 of the European Media Freedom Act, voted in plenary on 3 October, that will prevent the provision of this article being used to challenge or weaken ambitious cultural policies set out by Member States to promote European audiovisual creation.

FERA, FSE and the SAA congratulate Lukas Dhont, director and writer, and co-writer Angelo Tijssens of CLOSE, winner of the LUX Audience Award 2023, as announced during a festive ceremony yesterday evening in the European Parliament in Brussels.

The Society of Audiovisual Authors and its collective management organisation members stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and their creative community following the invasion of the country, and with all forms of opposition to the war. 

Freemuse, an independent international organisation, has in a recent report, for the first time, put the spotlight on Europe’s alarming rise of populism, undermining of cultural diversity and use of restrictions on artistic freedom in several countries. The topic was discussed on 21 January by Members of the European Parliament and representatives from the creative and cultural sector.

Every year, the European Parliament celebrates European cinema and cultural diversity through the LUX Film Prize Award. The SAA is proud to participate to this celebration by organising a dinner, in partnership with FERA and FSE, gathering Members of the European Parliament, our members and the LUX Film Prize finalists. This year, our guests reminded us that freedom of artistic expression cannot be taken for granted and needs to be upheld and protected at all times.

The SAA's 6th edition of the “One Day in Strasbourg” took place on the 26 November. In addition to SAA members meeting their MEPs during the day, we hosted a dinner together with the European Parliament's LUX Film Prize, in partnership with FERA and FSE. We celebrated European cinema, cultural diversity and freedom of expression with the LUX Film Prize finalists.  

The Federation of European Film and TV Directors and the Society of Audiovisual Authors support the Croatian filmmakers’ campaign I’D LIKE TO WATCH THAT – HRT SAYS – NYET! initiated in July 2019. Public service broadcaster HRT has failed to fulfill its obligations

Sentenced by the Iranian authorities to one year in prison and 223 lashes, Keywan Karimi has finally been imprisoned. His crime was to make films.

Next week I am going to participate in a breakfast panel entitled “Striking the balance between IP protection and Internet freedom in Europe”.  The line-up includes two rightsholder representatives (myself and Sylvie Forbin from Vivendi), a Pirate Party MEP (Mr Engström) and three organisations who promote the freedom of the internet (Marco Pancini from Google, Philippe Aigrain from the Quadrature du Net and Markus Kummer from the Internet Society).  I accepted to join this debate because I fundamentall