Film Policies in Europe (1945-1980): A Comparative Approach to the History of State Aid for Film

This book offers a historical and comparative overview of public interventions in European film industries--from Scandinavia to Eastern Europe--from the end of World War II to the 1980s, bringing together key scholars in European screen studies, . Such a timeframe considers the 35 years between the introduction or major restructuring of film policies in most European nations in response to intense competition from Hollywood and the establishment of a European supranational structure that led to the partial harmonization of national film policies.

The book’s twelve chapters analyze the chronological development and geographical spread of trends in the relationships between national public bodies and the domestic film industry, other national cinemas, and Hollywood. They address four key concepts:

- the need to go beyond merely protectionist measures, which guided early post-war policies;

- the shift from an automatic support to the film industry to the promotion of national art cinemas;

- the idea of an alternative to capitalist systems, which characterized Eastern Bloc countries;

- finally, the challenge to the very idea of national cinema, posed by systems based on a high degree of regionalization.

The book focuses on a wide range of case studies, paying equal attention to major and peripheral film industries, as well as the production and distribution sectors. Adopting a bottom-up approach, it starts from archival documents to take into account the negotiation activity conducted between public bodies and external stakeholders, such as film distributors’ and producers’ associations, unions, and cultural, political, and religious pressure groups.

Francesco Di Chiara is Associate Professor in film studies at the University of Milan. His research focuses on Italian post-war film genres and the Italian and European film industries. Taking an interdisciplinary approach that draws on media production studies, policy studies, and archival research, he explores the role of state institutions in film production and distribution. His work has been published in various international, peer-reviewed journals, including Studies in European Cinema, Cinéma & Cie, Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies and Iluminace.