EuroFIA meeting in Istanbul

EuroFIA delegates recently met in Istanbul to hold their first 2012 group meeting. FIA member ÇASOD hosted the event, which gave delegates the opportunity to meet the new Actors’ Union of Turkey and to adopt a EuroFIA resolution supporting ÇASOD and AUT in their fight for the protection and improvement of public funding for theatres in Turkey.

EuroFIA delegates held their first meeting of 2012 from June 2^nd to June 3^rd in Istanbul. The event, kindly hosted by Turkish member of FIA ÇASOD, gathered performers’ unions from all over Europe but also European collecting societies. Indeed, EuroFIA had invited those organisations for the fourth time in four years, in an effort to further develop a fruitful dialogue with them. It allowed delegates to address all kinds of relevant topics: private copying, the green paper on the online distribution of audiovisual works, legislative initiative on collective rights management, the WIPO audiovisual performances treaty, orphan works and the enforcement directive.

The EuroFIA meeting itself was also an occasion to engage in a rich discussion on matters affecting European performers and their work conditions: recent EU developments such as the Creative Europe programme and the Green Paper on the Online Distribution of Audiovisual Works, European social dialogue in the audiovisual and live performance sectors, the establishment of a collecting society in the interest of AV performers, training and life-long learning.

Another item on the agenda – Public funding on national theatres support for live performance – even generated the adoption by EuroFIA of a resolution on the dramatic situation currently affecting the Turkish artistic community. Indeed, after the Istanbul municipality’s decision to change the management system of city theatres and the consequent protests by the artistic community, Prime Minister Erdoðan announced a possible complete scrapping of all public funding for both state and city theatres. A resolution was adopted by EuroFIA to express its disapproval of such threats to artistic creation. You can download and read the whole resolution in English, French or Turkish below.

The meeting also gave the recently created Actors’ Union of Turkey the opportunity to officially apply for the FIA membership.

Motion on public funding of theatres in Turkey - English
Motion sur le financement public des théâtres en Turquie - Français
Motion on public funding of theatres in Turkey - Turkish