CICAE, the International Confederation of Art Cinemas, recently brought its board of directors together for a meeting in Paris, where the members discussed the hot political topics in the film industry with president Detlef Rossmann. “It is our key goal to cooperate much more closely with Europa Cinemas and UNIC on the European level in order to defend the cinema as a cultural and social place,” stated Rossmann.

CICAE believes that the cultural variety of European films is at stake due to digital piracy, production-centred film-funding systems and the undermining of exhibition windows. The organisation has already announced that it will hold talks with various officials from the European Commission and the European Parliament.

On the occasion of the upcoming 60th anniversary of CICAE in 2015, the art cinema association is planning several events during the international film festivals in Berlin, Cannes and Venice in order to highlight the political relevance of arthouse cinemas.

During the 72nd Mostra del Cinema in Venice, the CICAE will for the 12th time organise training for arthouse exhibitors at San Servolo from 31 August–7 September 2015. The one-week workshop has once again received support from the European Commission. Thanks to the great feedback received following previous training sessions, several new members have joined CICAE: besides a number of arthouse cinemas from the USA, Poland, Croatia and Spain, the renowned Villa Medici, the French Academy in Rome, has also joined the confederation.