Short Film in the Cinema - Anachronisms in Film Promotion
At the end of 2001 Germany’s State Minister for Cultural and Media Affairs, Prof. Dr. Julian Nida-Rümelin, published a "Film Policy Plan" in which he outlined proposals for the reform of film promotion and for upgrading the status of the German film as a cultural asset. His paper represents the first explicit acknowledgement by a minister of the Federal Republic of Germany of the cultural significance of film and was thus greeted as an encouraging development for this genre...
(Note: In Germany jurisdiction over cultural matters lies in the domain of the Länder; therefore no Ministry of Culture exists at the federal level. National film policy has heretofore been the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior and has been characterised by an orientation toward the film industry. With the last change of government, however, the office of "Beauftragter der Bundesregierung für Angelegenheiten der Kultur u. Medien" (BKM - State Minister to the Federal Chancellor for Cultural and Media Affairs) was created. Prof. Dr. Julian Nida-Rümelin is the second German State Minister to hold this office. Nevertheless, the cultural jurisdiction of the Länder remains unaffected by this new development, and a precise line of demarcation between the duties of the federal and state governments is now an ongoing bone of contention).
The State Minister’s plan also makes reference to short film and its promotion. The invitation presented by the State Minister to respond to his proposals and to take these up in public discourse provides a welcome opportunity to take a closer look at a specific aspect of German film funding practice here, namely the fixation on the short film merely as warm-up in front of a feature film.
National Short Film Funding
Although the Federal Ministry of the Interior, at that time responsible for issues of production financing, presented a discussion paper in 1994 in which it was suggested that the promotion of short film projects be suspended, federal involvement in short film funding, following a temporary decline, is thankfully now once again on the rise. In the year 2000 a total of some 2.1 million DM (1.07 million Euro) was allocated for short film promotion, and in 2001 the sum was even slightly greater. In order to get a better picture of the dimensions here: federal funding makes up about 30% of German short film promotion as a whole.
Unlike funding provided by the Länder, and in especially marked contrast to certain Länder in which funds for film are targeted specifically for cultural purposes, film promotion at the national level, even after the advent of the BKM, is still skewed toward film industry needs. By industry orientation we mean here both the funding methods themselves as well as the promotion objectives in terms of content, which are geared toward films suitable for theatrical release.
National short film promotion consists essentially of production backing and the bestowal of film awards. The largest portion of funds earmarked for the production of short films is contributed by the Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA – German Federal Film Board). A new addition in 2002 is the "Short Tiger Award" for short films. FFA funding is financed through a levy paid by cinemas and allocations from the broadcasting companies. The legal basis for FFA sponsorship is formed by the Filmförderungsgesetz (Film Promotion Act), which is slated for amendment in the near future. (The German Federal Film Board, headquartered in Berlin, is not a governmental agency, but rather a federal agency under public law.)
The second pillar in national film promotion consists of production funding in the form of the German Short Film Award, with prize money out of the BKM’s cultural budget. The common thread running through all measures on the national level is the implicit favouring of short films deemed "fit for the cinema". This criterion is anchored throughout in the relevant guidelines and eligibility requirements defining which short films are worthy of promotion.
Max 15"/7" – The Short Film Measured According to Funding Requirements
What a short film is and how long a short film is supposed to be is all defined in the relevant articles – at least if the production intends to have a claim to federal financing. Going by German Federal Film Board guidelines as well as those of the German Short Film Award, a short film may have a screening length of a maximum of 15 minutes. Just last year, a further category was added to the German Short Film Award as well, for "short" short films with a maximum length of 7 minutes. Since these awards take the form of cash prizes to be devoted to the production of new films, which are in turn required to be either max-15 or max-7 ... the carousel continues to go round and round!
The history of funding decisions to date shows that only quite a small circle of producers and filmmakers actually manage to fulfil the criteria for federal sponsorship. On the contrary, more than 80% of all short films funded in Germany that were invited for screening at a festival – as one measure of their quality – had received no federal support.
The limitation of running times is based on the undoubtedly sound argument that only shorter short films are suitable for screening in front of feature films at the cinema. The critical question here is: do they in fact even stand a chance of seeing the light of a projector?
The Short Film as Phantom – Supporting Films in the Commercial Cinema
In the programmes released by commercial cinemas, the short film is 'invisible'. Anyone who regularly goes to the movies knows this. Cinema operators are naturally not interested in wasting lucrative advertising time screening artistically meaningful short films.
Even when special rates are offered, or in the case of tie-in deals in which a short is paired with a specially funded feature film under the condition that the distributor and exhibitor must ensure that the short actually gets screened, the supporting short film usually remains at the bottom of the box in which it arrived at the cinema – that is, if the distributor even remembered to include it in the shipment! There are even cases known in the industry where invoices for striking short film prints have been faked, meaning the print only ever existed on paper.
This all leads inevitably to the conclusion that the short film promotion policies of the federal government constitute an anachronism, based on a completely obsolete image of the commercial and cultural position of the short film.
The Kommunale Kinos – A Neglected Screening Venue for Short Films
Based on a statistical analysis performed by the Bundesverband für kommunale Filmarbeit (Federal Association of Kommunale Kinos – German non-commercial art house cinemas), short films make up a share of 40 percent of all film titles screened in the regular programmes of its member cinemas (i.e. with the exception of short film festivals). So there’s at least one bright spot on the horizon for the short film! In most of the Kommunale Kinos the short film is even cultivated as a genre in its own right. The majority of the short films shown here are, however, not screened in front of a main feature, but rather in specially compiled programmes or full-length short film reels.
A current example of this practise is the "Deutscher Kurzfilmpreis 2001 unterwegs" tour. In all probability, the short films on this tour – all recipients of BKM awards -- will hardly be shown in any other cinemas.
Anachronistic: Despite the cultural programming accomplishments of the Kommunale Kinos, which of course go far beyond the mere dissemination of short films, these cinemas have nonetheless failed to achieve suitable recognition on the part of the BKM. Whereas commercial cinemas annually receive cinema programming grants to the tune of 2.3 million DM (1.18 million Euro), these art houses devoted explicitly to cultural enrichment have to make do with only 60,000 DM (0.03 million Euro) in all – and even this amount is now under discussion for possible cuts!
A Successful Model – Hamburg’s KurzFilmVerleih Short Film Subscription
The most successful model for short film distribution to date, with a proven track record since 1994, is the short film subscription offered by the KFA. The KurzFilmVerleih (Short Film Agency) offers cinemas with annual attendance rates under 78,000 one film selection from its distribution stock per week, for a one-time annual fee of 1,000 Euro (there are other flat rates available for cinemas with higher takes). 180 movie theatres have already taken advantage of this offer. The problem here is that the KFA can’t cover its costs with these prices and is thus dependent on subsidies. Models in which short film hire fees are assessed according to ticket sales, as with feature films, have up until now failed due to opposition from the ranks of the film business; while proposals for adding a general minimal short film surcharge ("short film penny") to ticket prices have fallen on deaf ears.
According to the Hamburg Short Film Agency’s own figures, they’ve already been able to reach around 2 million viewers in the course of 60,000 screenings in the space of just 3 years. Their most frequent customers are repertory theatres, Kommunale Kinos and non-commercial film clubs.
With over 250 titles available, Hamburg’s Short Film Agency has more 35mm cinema prints in its programme than all commercial film distributors in Germany put together.
Another anachronism: the Short Film Agency doesn’t have the funding opportunities at its disposal that the feature-length film sector enjoys, including distribution funding, distributor awards, print sponsorship and sales support, all of which are undisputed components of federal film promotion.
The Bottom Line
The majority of creative short film production does not fit into the scheme of official promotion policy. Shorts today run up to 40 minutes and are only rarely still shot on celluloid. Both stylistically and aesthetically, they go far beyond those formats traditionally considered suitable for the cinema, which would typically be animated or short feature films. A characteristic feature of contemporary short film production, namely filmmakers’ ambition to be at the cutting edge in terms of both form and content, is virtually guaranteed to lead to a failure to comply with obsolete funding guidelines. In addition, short films have long since been able to find novel and alternative dissemination channels. This is to a great extent the consequence of a public cultural policy that no longer accomplishes its purpose, in effect leaving authors and artists in the film industry to their own devices. This exploration of alternatives beyond the mainstream helps to explain the recent push into the art market – a tendency that we’ll investigate further in an upcoming issue of the Short Film Magazine ...
The situation described above is similar to that in many other countries and the conclusions can be applied there as well. It would thus be interesting to hear not only from German readers, but also from international readers of this short film magazine on how they view these developments and which solutions they would suggest.
At least in Germany, there now seems to be an opportunity to correct the present course of events. The fact that there is now an actively involved State Minister at the federal level who understands and supports film policy as a vital part of cultural policy is of inestimable value. Thus a start has been made toward a fruitful discourse on the potential reform of film policy. We need to seize this opportunity and run with it!
Reinhard W. Wolf
Remarks, references and links on this topic:
– The film policy plan put forth by State Minister Prof. Dr. Julian Nida-Rümelin
– All statistics quoted, where not otherwise attributed, were taken from "Expertise zur Situation des deutschen Kurzfilms" (Reinhard W. Wolf)
– For further information on this topic, see also: "Stellungnahme der Internationalen Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen gGmbH zum Filmpolitischen Konzept des Staatsministers für Angelegenheiten der Kultur und der Medien, Prof. Dr. Julian Nida-Rümelin, vom November 2001"
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