The Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities says he has been “passionate” about cinema all his life.
Gennaro Sangiuliano, a former RAI executive appointed culture minister by right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in 2022, said he intends to continue investing heavily in subsidies for the Venice Film Festival and, through a generous tax credit program, also wants to promote Italy to international producers.
In an interview with The Hollywood ReporterSangiuliano said he was pleased with Italy’s investment of nearly $800 million a year in a program of selective tax credits and subsidies for TV and film producers. When it emerged last year that some Italian producers had abused the system, Sangiuliano took steps to tighten the rules. But the fund is still large, providing producers with up to 40 percent of the production budgets of many films shot in Italy.
As Scott Roxborough and Giammaria Tammaro reported in DAY On August 27, under the Italian government’s latest rules, international co-productions will face an €18 million ($19.7 million) cap on tax credit payments for projects where at least 30 percent of the production is made in Italy. Local productions will be capped at €9 million ($10 million). The overall fund for film and audiovisual investments in 2024, however, remains unchanged at around €700 million ($782 million).
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture subsidizes more than half of the Venice Film Festival's annual operating budget, spending approximately $15 million annually.
Sangiuliano calls cinema “the art form closest to the people, the one that really moves people, and especially the younger generations.” He boasts that this year's Venice Film Festival is once again a star-studded international showcase. “You only have to look at the list of star participants who come to Venice to get an idea of how important and relevant this event is,” he says.
“As a government, we are working hard to support the film industry. We have worked to rationalize and make more ethical the mechanisms for allocating resources to cinema, such as the tax credit, but also our selective contributions. We are satisfied with the work done. Cinema is a great dream and each of us relives our lives through the films we have enjoyed over the years,” the minister said when asked how committed he was to tax credits and incentives for film production.
The Italian minister, of course, probably wanted to mention Paolo Sorrentino, Luca Guadagnino and Matteo Garrone, but he held back and said instead that “Italy is proud of the excellence of those who work in the Italian film industry and we want to support this sector. Today, Italy is producing extraordinary and talented directors who are making a name for themselves around the world.”