By Merve Sezgin, Head of International Relations, German Federation of the Blind and Partially-Sighted
State of play in Germany
The idea for this EBU campaign has been developed by the German experience. The German Federal Film Board executes the Film Funding Act. A recast of the law in 2013 mandated that the Film Board can only fund accessible films. This has two immediate consequences: film production projects are only eligible for funding, if their detailed project description budgets in an audio description and; film distribution projects are only eligible for funding, if the distributed film includes an audio description. The idea is that the German practice can serve as a best practice model for Creative Europe in the EU to increase the level of accessibility in the cultural sector.
Current MEDIA rules
The MEDIA sub-programme of Creative Europe supports the EU film and audiovisual industries financially in the development, distribution and promotion of their work. It helps to launch projects with a European dimension and reach new audiences. Currently the regulatory framework of MEDIA simply includes support for audio-description of audiovisual works. Disappointingly, the European Commission’s proposed new regulation on the Creative Europe Programme for the period 2021-2027 contains even weaker language.
Article 7 of the revised EU Directive on audiovisual media services also requires media service providers in Europe to make their services continuously and progressively more accessible to persons with disabilities, including through audio description and audio subtitling. Therefore, the EU should support the implementation of the Directive on audiovisual media services through the Creative Europe Programme.
Our new campaign: equal access to culture for persons with visual impairments in the EU
Visually impaired persons need audio description and audio subtitling to have equal access to a film. Innovative rules in several Member States have expanded the percentage of available accessible cultural content with audio description. The EU can learn from these experiences, make films more accessible and create an inclusive cultural area in Europe. To reach this goal we have developed our position paper, suggesting that accessibility should be considered among the selection criteria of the programme. If implemented as we suggest, it is a cost-neutral way for the MEDIA programme to contribute to the increase of accessibility measures.
Our demands
For the next period 2021-2027 we demand that MEDIA should extend its eligibility criteria for funding to accessibility requirements: the bottom line is that the Creative Europe Programme for 2021-2027 should, at least like its predecessor, include support for audio-description of audiovisual works among support measures for the MEDIA sub-programme. We demand in our position paper that audio description and audio subtitling should be included among the selection and award criteria on the basis of which proposals eligible for MEDIA funding are assessed. For the first time frame until 2027 at least 25% of films that receive MEDIA funding should have an audio description and audio subtitling. The percentage of films complying with accessibility standards should increase progressively until all of them include audio description.
You can read our position paper on MEDIA funding to the European film industry here.