FROM DECLARATION TO ACTION
Defending Creative Freedom: European Authors and the Future of Independent Cinema
Venice, 10 September 2026
Today, at the Mostra, the Giornate degli Autori brought together directors and representatives of directors’ guilds from France, Spain and Italy, alongside the Federation of European Screen Directors (FERA), to put a fundamental principle at the centre of the debate: independence is a precondition for artistic freedom.
The meeting, organised as a follow-up to the Déclaration des cinéastes first launched in Cannes in 2023 and subsequently echoed at major festivals across Europe, marks a continuation of this collective mobilisation. But today, in Venice, we are turning declaration into action.
At a time of profound geopolitical uncertainty, when Europe’s cultural sovereignty and diversity are under increasing pressure, the ability of directors and other authors to create freely, independently and with control over their work must be protected. This freedom also depends on a strong and diverse ecosystem of independent production, capable of developing and financing original works. The enforcement of the AI Act and the rapid development of generative AI make this more urgent than ever, while authors across Europe continue to fight for the fair and appropriate remuneration of their work.
As the European Parliament prepares to finalise its position on AgoraEU — a proposal that will have a major impact on the stability, funding and development of European cinema, and on Europe’s ability to shape its cultural future — European directors unanimously call on European and national policymakers to:
• Safeguard the independence of authors as a necessary condition for artistic freedom and freedom of expression, including directors’ ability to retain meaningful artistic control over their work.
• Provide authors with the conditions to develop and create their works freely, through the support of a diverse and independent production sector.
• Protect European cultural sovereignty, diversity and plurality by ensuring that artists can create in a climate of freedom and independence.
• Enforce existing copyright rules and ensure full respect for authors’ rights throughout the audiovisual value chain.
• Guarantee appropriate and fair remuneration for authors and ensure that their contribution to European culture is properly valued.
• Put authors’ rights, artistic freedom and freedom of expression at the heart of European cultural policy.
AI must not come at the expense of authors
As European countries develop and implement AI legislation, the framework governing AI and culture must be grounded in three fundamental principles:
• Transparency — authors must know which works and content are used to train AI systems.
• Consent and authors’ rights — authors must have the right to authorise or refuse the use of their works, with their rights fully respected.
• Fair remuneration — when authors’ works contribute to the development or training of AI systems, authors must receive fair and appropriate remuneration.
Like the current Creative Europe MEDIA, AgoraEU must become a tool for concrete action.
The European Parliament’s draft position on AgoraEU already provides a strong foundation. We now call on decision makers at European and national level to support and strengthen these provisions and use AgoraEU as the political tool it is intended to be, including by:
• protecting the independence and artistic freedom of authors;
• ensuring that access to European audiovisual production funding under MEDIA+ remains conditional on independence,
• ensuring respect for authors’ rights;
• guaranteeing appropriate remuneration for authors participating in EU-funded projects;
• ensuring authors’ rights are respected in relation to AI;
• preventing certain AI-generated projects from benefiting from EU funding;
• supporting mobility, residencies, mentoring and exchange programmes for screen directors and screenwriters;
• strengthening support for European networks of audiovisual organisations ; and
• ensuring a clearly identifiable and adequate allocation for cinema and audiovisual creation within the programme.
The future of European cinema depends on the independence of its authors and on a sustainable ecosystem of independent production. Without independence, there can be no genuine artistic freedom; without artistic freedom, there can be no diverse, plural and sovereign European cinema. We call on European and national policymakers to turn these principles into concrete policy and action.
European directors will follow the development of AgoraEU closely and remain ready to engage constructively with policymakers to ensure that Europe’s audiovisual future remains free, diverse and author-driven.
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ABOUT THE SIGNATORIES
ANAC: The Associazione Nazionale Autori Cinematografici is one of Italy’s oldest and most established organisations representing film directors and screenwriters. Founded in 1952, it has played a central role in defending the artistic, professional and cultural interests of Italian filmmakers. ANAC advocates for creative freedom, authors’ rights and the diversity of Italian cinema, and works at both national and European levels to promote the cultural and economic conditions necessary for independent filmmaking and the development of cinema as an art form.
100autori: The 100autori – Associazione dell’autorialità cinetelevisiva is an Italian organisation representing screenwriters, directors and other audiovisual authors working across cinema, television, documentary and animation. Founded to give a stronger collective voice to audiovisual authors, it advocates for their creative, professional and economic rights and works to protect authorship, creative freedom and the cultural value of Italian cinema and television.
L’ARP: The Société civile des Auteurs-Réalisateurs-Producteurs is a French organisation representing over 200 filmmakers, founded in 1987 by Claude Berri and leading directors including Agnès Varda and Costa-Gavras. It advocates for diversity, independence and creative freedom, and works at both national and European levels to defend the regulatory and economic conditions that enable independent filmmaking and European cinema to thrive.
SRF: Since 1968, the SRF has been defending the artistic and moral freedoms, as well as the professional and economic interests, of filmmakers. Today bringing together more than 500 members, the SRF is the most representative filmmakers’ organisation in France, both in terms of membership and the diversity of its members’ backgrounds and practices. It represents the views of all filmmakers, whether established or emerging, working in fiction, documentary or animation, and across both short and/or feature films.
ACCION: The Asociación de Directores y Directoras de Cine de España is a Spanish organisation representing film directors and defending their professional, creative and intellectual property rights. Founded in 2018, it works to strengthen the position of directors within the Spanish audiovisual industry, promoting quality and diversity in cinema and contributing to the development of legislation and public policies affecting film and audiovisual creation.
FERA: Founded in 1980, FERA serves as the independent voice of European screen directors in Brussels. Bringing together 46 member organisations from 31 countries, it represents over 20,000 active directors across film, television, and streaming - recognised as primary audiovisual authors. FERA advocates for their cultural, creative, and economic interests at both national and EU levels.
Francesco Ranieri Martinotti (president GdA), Fabrizio Berruti (ANAC), Pilar Perez Solano (ACCION), Marine Francen (SRF), Julie Belgrado (FERA), Marco Simon Puccioni (100autori), Eva Husson (L'ARP)
