04/10/2002

On 2 October, French film director, Robert Guédiguian, the new president of Marseille’s filmmakers’ union “La Friche de la Belle de Mai”, began his mandate with a very public appeal to local institutions for the creation of a local “advance on regional box office takings” (Avance sur Recettes Régionale) in the southern-central regions of Provence – Alps-Cote d’Azur, or PACA.
The director of Marius e Jeanette and Marie-Jo and her two husbands feels this will encourage local filmmaking and help the local economy and intends modelling the local institution on the “Avance sur Recette” that operates nationwide in France. The “Avance” is a repayable loan on future box office takings. Guédiguian said that the new commission would be a “free and independent” regional body made up of industry professionals charged with selecting the features produced in the PACA region that are eligible to receive support under the “regional avance” scheme.
“The ideal scenario would be to have Euros4.57 million at our disposal. That amount would enable us to help around a dozen films,” said Guédiguian. He also announced that “La Friche de la Belle de Mai” intends activating a film production fund next year. Guédiguian succeeded architect Jean Nouvel as the new Chair of “Friche de la Belle de Mai”, a multi-discipline authors’ umbrella association that brings together some 60 smaller associations that was established in 1992 and is situated over an area of 120,000 square meters in “Friche de la Belle de Mai” where a film studio is scheduled to be built in 2003.

(Translated from French)