Management summary Research study „Beyond postsocialist and small: recent film production practices and state support for cinema in Czechia and Romania“

Cinemas of East and Central Europe are often characterized in the scholarly literature by generalizing terms such as “small cinemas” and “postsocialist” cinemas and, in this sense, defined against Western European cinemas. Based on a comparison of historical contexts, film production infrastructures, the popularity of films with various audiences, and analysis of state support for film production in Czechia and Romania, the study demonstrates that film industries of East and Central Europe are, in fact, vastly differing. Romanian film production is not popular with domestic audiences but is celebrated at prestigious film festivals abroad. It is significantly oriented on its export and use of European sources of public funding. The orientation and system of state support of Romanian cinema is strongly influenced by the French model. Czech film production, on the other hand, is popular with domestic audiences but relatively unsuccessful concerning its export. It rarely triumphs at festivals and markets abroad. The system of state support is not inspired by any specific foreign model. The study concludes that 30 years after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the terms “small cinemas” and “postsocialist cinemas” are imprecise and ghettoizing, and we should rather debate diverse models of “European” cinema.

Target groups of stakeholders: Researchers in the given field

Citation: Parvulescu, C., Hanzlík, J. (2020). Beyond postsocialist and small: recent film production practices and state support for cinema in Czechia and Romania [Nejen postsocialistické a malé kinematografie: Praxe filmové výroby a státní podpora kinematografie v Česku a Rumunsku v posledních letech]. Studies in European Cinema. Ahead of print, published online March 16, 2020. DOI: 10.1080/17411548.2020.1736794