If it is axiomatic that success has many fathers, it should be no surprise that many will this week claim parentage to “The King’s Speech”, the low-budget film that ran away with the most Oscars at Sunday night’s Academy Awards ceremony.
But the European Union?
Monday morning, Androulla Vassiliou, the European commissioner in charge of cultural issues, put out a statement noting the film received €562,000 in “distribution support” from the EU’s Media programme, which spends about €110m per year to promote and distribute European films.
“What a great night for the European film industry and the Media programme,” Vassiliou gushed in her acceptance speech. “Europe loves cinema and the world loves our films!”
According to the statement, “The King’s Speech” received funding to encourage its distribution outside its home country, the United Kingdom.
The Danish film that won best foreign language film, “In a Better World”, also received funding from the Media programme, about €540,000, as did the Greek foreign film nominee “Dogtooth” (€21,000) and the Franco-British best animation nominee “The Illusionist” (€126,000).
Here at the Brussels Blog, we’re busy preparing our script for a horror movie about the debt crisis.
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