Congresswoman Adriana Tudela, from Avanza País, is being questioned for the bases she has used for her bill 5903, with which she intends to replace the current Law 26370 on Peruvian cinema. Although unions and film industry experts have indicated that they were never consulted about this modification, the parliamentarian maintains that she consulted with tourism experts, economists and people dedicated to cultural promotion.
In that sense, La República spoke with the renowned filmmaker Joel Calerodirector of films such as ‘The Last Afternoon’ and ‘The Most Feared Skin’, who explained why this rule is not favorable either for national cinema or for Peruvian culture.
Adriana Tudela’s bill is based on lies
“It is a law that is born from misinformation or bad faith” indicates Joel. As the filmmaker explains, the congresswoman relied on false statements to propose the rule: “It is radically false that the current law finances 100% of the projects. First because it is a fixed amount and the percentage depends on how expensive the project is. The correct thing is that those S/675,000 that DAFO contributes are usually equivalent to between 60% to 80% of the project.”
It should be noted that, the director mentioned, the information on the amount that SWOT offers for the financing of feature films can be found in the Ministry of Culture, so it is surprising that the congresswoman’s advisors, and she herself, have based themselves on this false information to create the bill.
On the other hand, Tudela assures that the current film law was promulgated behind closed doors between the film unions and former president Martín Vizcarra.
“The law we have is the product of 3 years of conversations and was even approved by Congress with a majority of Fuerza Popular, 73%, in 2019. So it is not a law that can be easily dismantled because it is said that it cannot responds to democratic procedures,” says Calero.
Does the ring exist between the unions of the film industry?
The statements of the congressmen Alejandro Cavero and Andrea Tudela have gone viral and have been strongly questioned after they alleged that there is a ring within the film industry, which would be benefiting from subsidies from the Ministry of Culture.
Given this, Joel is forceful with his response: “What Cavero says doesn’t hold up. He has no idea what he’s talking about. Argolla is when there is a direct assignment. Here is a jury that delivers a support. If Congressman Cavero had the real intention of working, he would go to SWOT and ask for support as to why the 2019 jury awarded such a project.”
The ‘Tudela law’ project destroys national culture
Another questionable point about the bill from the Avanza País congresswoman is that she would be encouraging foreign productions and leaving aside national ones. “It is an absolutely mercantilist law that wants to see cinema only as a business, but not even as a business to promote Peruvian cinema, but to promote Peru as a destination for foreign filming.” explains Joel.
Given this, he gives as an example that in Peru there is a type of cinema of cultural value (‘Willaq Pirka’, ‘Retablo’, ‘Wiñaypacha’, among others) that seeks to show the diverse cultures of our country, which Today it is disunited due to Lima’s centralism. With the ‘Tudela law’ project, culture is seen in the background.
Finally, Joel Calero reaffirms that he does not agree with absolutely anything with Congresswoman Tudela’s proposal and that what is currently needed is to create a film commission, which will not be possible through a law full of misinformation and lies.
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