The Ministry of Culture, which came under attack, went into lockdown and announced that it wanted to “protect” itself from the “manipulative” reconstruction of the cuts to the Film Fund, which sparked a rebellion in the sector. Minister Giuli became the center of a new cross-fire after Repubblica revealed an email sent from the ministry’s office and addressed to the Mef, with a proposal “to cut the Fund for the development of investments in cinemas by about a third”, namely 240 million in 2026 and almost 300 in 2027, to return the overall allocation to 400 million, from the current 696. “A complete opposite of reality”, they reported from Mic. It explained that in the email, “the ministry noted a series of cuts it had requested to potentially spread over a three-year period”.
The problem will become more complex. The window of continuing to fund everything without cutting anything would be too short. And Giuli has been firm, in recent weeks, on not taking resources away from “cultural heritage protection.” An item that Mef, according to sources at Via Venti Settembre, estimates a reduction of 232 million in 2026, rising to 458 in 2028, in addition to the 150 million in 2025 of the last budget. In three years almost 700 million was reduced. Too much, for Giuli, in an area considered a priority, given what happened at Torre dei Conti. On the other hand, the minister, like his predecessor Sangiuliano, has been critical of movie theaters’ management of funds in recent years, and tax credits are starting to trickle in. Therefore, when faced with a huge reduction in funds for the protection of cultural heritage, Giuli will push for the transfer of these funds to the Cinema Fund, which by 2023 will have made a profit of more than 700 million euros. Yesterday via del Collegio Romano it was underlined that in the press reconstruction of the cuts, there was “no mention” that Giuli had proposed to the Mef to “maintain restrictions on international tax credits, which would nevertheless attract foreign capital and guarantee development and employment for the entire sector”. This is a tax credit dedicated to the co-production of foreign films in Italy.
The issue of the 100 million “recovery” for the cinema sector that the minister announced as compensation for the ax remains unresolved. The amount was meant to be an automatic contribution, but has not yet been set, and which the minister now wants to divert to buffer the cuts. But the Accounting Office stopped the “transfer” because it was requested in a manner not specified by law and according to completely irregular procedures. “The government is working to find a solution,” the minister said. But the M5 group and the Democratic Party attacked: “They want to destroy the industrial chain in this country because they are not liked by the government.”
For the FdI, “the opposition is unclear. Giuli is personally involved in restoring funding for the cinema sector without affecting the resources necessary to guarantee the protection and enhancement of the value of cultural heritage”.
