The false truce over the cinema bill. The agency established by the PD is already a fiefdom of FdI

Rome. And they call it convergence. It is the Roman peace between the Democratic Party and Fratelli d’Italia. The elixir of love known as the ‘cinema bill’. The bill, which is currently under consideration by the Senate, today introduces the long-awaited ‘cinema agency’. This body will assume some of the management functions relating to the audiovisual sector previously assigned to the MIC.

An idea from Pupi Avati – as our readers will recall – promptly taken up by Schlein (Elly, who wanted to be a film director as a child), and then made a top priority by Fratelli d’Italia. They refer to it as the ‘agency of harmony’, it was said, but what they do not mention is that, although conceived by the PD, it could serve as a safe haven for FdI. In other words, it could become the place where men and women close to the party might find a home, with all due respect to Elly Kubrick, better known as Schlein. However, let us proceed methodically.

The crux of the matter, it seems, lies entirely in Article 3. This is where the law provides for an editor-in-chief to be appointed by the Prime Minister on the recommendation of the Ministry of Culture, much as is the case with the President of RAI. The individual, in this case too, will be subject to the approval of two-thirds of Parliament. Now, it is true that 2027 will be the year in which the administrative procedures for setting up the agency itself are finalised. It is true that the agency will not be operational until at least 2028. But it is equally plausible – as those in the know explain – that if the current parliamentary term drags on, there will be scope for appointments. If Giorgia Meloni’s government were therefore to last until September, the agency’s director would be a government appointee. Speculation or vague hints from the corridors of power? No. Many names, from Cinecittà downwards, are beginning to circulate. The post, on the other hand, would be for three years (an interesting fact should the government change colour) and the remuneration, though still undefined, is estimated in any case to be ‘very high’ (close to 240,000 euros). Managers from public television and the film industry are marked in red. All this is happening whilst the most cinephile of politicians, Lucia Borgonzoni, watches the spectacle unfold, with obvious disappointment.

The League’s Under-Secretary with responsibility for cinema – here is the mise en abyme – is the other face of this false calm. Senator Borgonzoni is aware that the agency could become the new fiefdom of the ‘cultured brothers’. The result of a law “rushed through”, she tells her supporters, and with the Senate committee disregarding the views of the associations (the disappointment, here, has turned to anger). The most cynical Meloni supporters believe she is eyeing the agency with great interest. And that she feels sidelined. Cut off from her own world and from Minister Giuli who, from another perspective, is in fact the peacemaker between her and Fratelli d’Italia. The secular tie-breaker between the Lega and FdI, and then between FdI and the PD. Who knows. What is certain is that while they all profess mutual esteem on paper, they eye each other warily when the cameras are off. A bit like Di Caprio and Danes in Romeo + Juliet. Love affairs in Parliament, treacherous laws.