Controversial Law Proposal Will Harm Film Industry 

With the new law proposal, the Belarusian government intends to force filmmakers, who want to film in public space, to apply for a preliminary permission to shoot. Filmmakers will have to present an extremely detailed description of the content and the form of the project, in order for a permission to be granted. The applications are handled by The Ministry of Culture. The estimated time to receive an answer is no less than three months.

It is not yet clear what the legal and financial consequences will be for companies or individuals, who will film without this official approval. If the proposed law is adopted, it will be extremely harmful for the documentary and fiction filmmakers working in Belarus. Potentially it can be a way of creating a new instrument of censorship.

CALL-TO-ACTION

EDN is opposed to any kind of potential censorship and calls both European and international institutions as well as film professionals to contact their national Belarus embassies in order to voice their strong objections against this unacceptable law proposal.

A list of worldwide Belarus embassies incl. contact details and email addresses can be found here: http://embassy.goabroad.com/embassies-of/belarus

In case of questions, please contact:

Paul Pauwels | Director EDN | paul@edn.dk

PLEASE SHARE this news item with your followers: we have prepared posts on our FACEBOOK and TWITTER accounts - this press release can also be found in the press section of our website (incl. images).

About Dokforum

Dokforum is a documentary conference for filmmakers of the Belarus region aiming to influence the peace process in the region. Supported by the German Ministry of Foreign affairs, the German AG-Dok association organized a four-day event in Minsk, Belarus (11-14 September 2015) inviting documentary filmmakers (directors/producers), festival organizers, sales agents, distributors and professional associations from the former USSR republics and Russia. The conference serves as a platform for discussing the current situation, with the aim to promote a future interregional and international collaboration. International guests were Cay Wesnigk and Björn Jensen (AG-Dok), Simone Baumann (Saxonia Entertainment) and Paul Pauwels (Director EDN).