Tel-Chai Nation

Roman Polanski, the filmmaker who disgraced himself when he raped a 13-year-old girl in 1977, and then fled the US to avoid any jail time, recently directed an anti-American movie called The Ghost Writer, which predictably won a Euro Film Academy award for best picture. And the most interesting thing about it is that it got German-based financing:

As discussed in my earlier PJM report on “Berlinollywood,” Polanski’s The Ghost Writer was not only largely filmed in Germany, it also benefited from massive German public subsidies. These included €3,540,944 directly from the German government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. This works out to nearly $5 million at current exchange rates. The money came in the form of a grant from the German Film Fund (DFFF). The DFFF is a federal program under the direction of Germany’s commissioner for Culture and Media. As noted on the German government’s website, the commissioner reports directly to the chancellor. The commissioner is commonly referred to as the “Culture Minister.”

The German Federal Film Board (FFA), a distinct federal program, pitched in with another €500,000, as did the joint “Media Board” of the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg. Other regional film funds contributed smaller sums. The Ghost Writer also received some €590,000 in support from the European Union’s MEDIA program. (See European Commission press release here.) This brings total either German or EU support to over €5.5 million or nearly $7.5 million at current exchange rates.

And who finances the European Film Academy? Lo and behold, yet again, chiefly the German public — which is to say, whether it wants to or not. In this case, German taxpayers are somewhat spared. German gamblers take up the slack. According to the Berlin-based academy, it is “mainly financed by the German National Lottery.” What is meant by this is, apparently, just the Berlin regional division of the latter, part of whose proceeds go to a so-called Lotto Foundation. A 2010 press release of the Lotto Foundation lists a grant to the academy of €264,000.

Polanski almost redeemed himself with the Pianist, but when he makes a movie like this - especially with that kind of bankrolling - it makes me wonder if he really isn't all that different from George Soros. He certainly isn't helping his image by filming these kind of movies now.

Labels: anti-americanism, Europe, germany, showbiz