Lobbying

Active participation in politics

The KFA participated in exploratory talks, initiated by the German Federal Ministry for Culture and Media (BKM), with politicians and representatives of the film industry which led to amendments to the German Film Funding Law in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2017.
In this way valuable impulses were contributed towards improving funding conditions for short films in Germany. In particular, due to the revision of § 56 para.1 no. 6 in conjunction with para.4 of the German Film Funding Law, the years 2009 and onwards have seen an increased demand for the screening of supporting films by cinema operators.
The paragraph provided funding for the screening of shorts as supporting films.

The Kurzfilm Agentur together with AG Kurzfilm were also involved with the most recent version of the German Film Funding Law of January 1, 2017.

Several important improvements to the law were achieved:

With the new definition of short film length (up to 30 minutes), a wider range of films can meet funding criteria. This means that the short film medium will not be restricted solely to the role of supporting film.

The introduction of German subtitling, as opposed to synchronized dubbing, is an overdue change which better reflects both the reality of short film production and everyday life in German society.

Cinema operators can now also apply for funding for shortfilm programmes which provide a full evening of viewing. To date only the screening of short films in supporting slots has been funded. The newest version of the German Film Funding Law makes the use of a wider spectrum of short films simpler, and will enable the medium to reach out to new film audiences.