Audiences, Film Culture, Public Subsidies: The End of Spanish Cinema?

Abstract

Since 2005, cinema attendances in Spain have fallen significantly by nearly 35 per cent, from 21 million to 14 million in 2008 (http://www.mcu.es). But while admissions fall year on year, production levels have shown a relentless, inexorable rise. Even in a period of national and global financial crisis, Spanish film output appears impervious to economic slump. In 2008, for example, a massive 173 film features were made. However, nearly 30 per cent of these did not achieve a release (46) and a further 24 attracted less than 100 spectators (http://www.mcu.es). So why is it that the more Spanish audiences desert their own national cinema, the more films get made? The answer lies in large part in the availability of a generous and multi-layered subsidy system. This operates at many levels (national, regional, local and European) and across numerous types of institutions (from official national and pan-European government agencies, as well as national, regional and local television companies, right down to local savings banks, art galleries and museums). In 2008, this producer-friendly system resulted in 217 production companies being funded by government, the majority of which were small and set up in that year solely to make one film and then disappear (http://www.mcu.es). This means that single producer-directors and risk-averse, wannabe auteurs can virtually finance a low-budget feature and make a living from the subsidy system, without needing to commercialize their output. Spanish taxpayers have little idea of how the system works yet, like it or not, they fund the lion’s share of these projects.