The agreement came about as the result of a decision by the Swedish government and parliament to support domestic film production, which had been exposed to competition in the 1950s, mainly from the introduction of television.
The agreement stipulated a ten percent levy on cinema admission tickets, which the Swedish Film Institute ploughed back into film production. The process leading up to the Film Agreement and the restructuring of film policy which took place at the time is often referred to as the "Film Reform".
Since 1963 the Film Agreement has been reformulated and renegotiated at roughly five year intervals. It has financed and governed Swedish film policy regardless of any party in government.
The Film Agreement is between the Swedish state and various other parties. Originally these parties comprised the cinema owners, yet since 1992 they have been joined by the television companies. The video industry did join the agreement in the 1980s, yet subsequently left in 1998.
The current Film Agreement came into effect in January 2006 and ran originally until December 31 2010.
In 2008 the government set up a commission to review future film policy. The commission's findings were presented in September 2009, in conjunction with which the 2006 Film Agreement was extended for two years. As such, the Film Agreement currently in force comes to an end on December 31 2012.
In 2011 the government appointed a negotiator, Lennart Foss, who was tasked with setting up a new cross-industry body in order to finance Swedish film.
A proposal setting out the aims of a new Film Agreement was presented on 25 January 2012. The new Film Agreement, which will run from 2013-2015, will be finalized and signed off during autumn 2012.
Aims
The aims of the 2006 Film Agreement are to:
- support and stimulate the innovation and development of worthwhile film production and the distribution and screening of films throughout Sweden
- encourage film production to be a dynamic and growing industry
- improve conditions for women filmmakers
- promote efforts to suppress illegal dealing in films in all screening formats
- encourage Swedish film to reflect the country as a whole
- help Swedish film to reach a wider audience in all screening formats both in Sweden and internationally
- promote an increase in the number of cinema admissions in Sweden.
The 2006 Film Agreement (pdf)
Parties to the Film Agreement
- The Swedish State
- The Swedish Exhibitors Association (Sveriges Biografägareförbund)
- The National Federation of People's Parks and Community Centres (Folkets hus och parker)
- The Temperance Centres' Association (Riksföreningen Våra Gårdar)
- The Swedish Film Distributors Association (Sveriges filmuthyrareförening)
- Swedish Film & TV Producers Association (Film & TV producenterna)
- Sveriges Television AB
- TV4 AB
- Modern Times Group MTG AB
- Kanal 5 AB
- C More Entertainment AB