Italian, French Cultural Leaders Renew Cinema Co-Production Agreement


ROME – Italy’s newly installed Minister of Culture Lawrence Ornaghi met over the weekend with French counterpart Frederic Mitterrand and agreed to renew the exiting cinema co-production agreement between the two countries and to explore ways to deepen ties in the film sector.

The Rome meeting was the first high-level summit for Ornaghi, who took over as culture minister on Nov. 16 when former European Commissioner Mario Monti appointed him as part of the country’s new technocratic government that replaced the beleaguered government of ousted Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Officially, intellectual property issues topped the agenda of the meeting between Ornaghi and Mitterrand, who is the nephew of former French President Francois Mitterrand.

The official communiqué from the Ministry of Culture said they discussed collaborating to combat piracy of films, software, music, and books. Of special interest was the digitalization of book collections and the spread of digital technologies, both of which the two ministers agreed represented a rising risk to often outdated intellectual property laws.

The two men also agreed that they -- and their successors -- should meet regularly to exchange views, learn from the other’s experiences, and to further strengthen ties between the two cultural superpowers.