Predicted to take place between the 11th and 19th of August, the 51st edition of Gramado Film Festival will not be able to count on resources from the Culture Incentive Law (LIC) of the State, after decision of State Council of Culture of Rio Grande do Sul (CEC-RS) choose not to contemplate the event. The vote took place this Friday (5), going against the concession – by the CEC-RS Special Project Evaluation Commission I – the maximum score (5) to the project presented by Gramadoturmunicipal authority responsible for holding events in the mountain town.
With that, the organization of the festival will have to adapt to the moment – which surprised everyone – and will have, in 2023, a more compact editionwhile maintaining the quality of the productions presented and being aware of their importance for the gaucho culture through the audio-visualaccording to the words of president of the municipality, Rosa Helena Volk. She points out that the denial will have a severe impact on the production of the event, since, without the sponsorships that were already in progress through LIC, the event should suffer, at least, a 25% reduction in investment.
“The approval of our project by LIC was fundamental for the responsible realization of another edition of the Gramado Film Festival”, regrets Rosa. “The decision calls into question all of our planning, in addition to showing the need for a profound readjustment of the plans for the edition”, he adds, emphasizing that the
movie event pledges to maintain its commitment to
audiovisual culture of the State and Brazil, standing out as the
most traditional in the countryand “overcoming this adversity”.
“The lack of Brazilian productions did not stop us. Neither did the impossibility of human contact. This lack of resources will not stop us either, but it will certainly be a cut that will be felt in the dimension of the event”, points out Rosa. The president of Gramadotur reinforces that the festival will continue to be “the most respected in the country”. “We will deliver an edition faithful to our principles of responsibility and commitment, bringing to Gramado the best of Brazilian audiovisual production.”
The (CEC-RS) decision was similar for other cultural projects in the city, rejected in 2023, like the
9th Gramado In Concert and the
32nd Festa da Colonia. Still remaining is the evaluation of the projects of the
37th Christmas Light It’s from
15th Festival of Culture and Gastronomy. Second note from
Secretary of State for Culture of Rio Grande do Sul (Sedac-RS), the current legislation (
Law No. 13,490, of July 21, 2010) provides that the analysis of merit and the degree of priority of projects registered to raise funds with LIC are established by CEC-RS. Autonomous, the CEC-RS is composed of 27 members, two thirds of whom are elected by cultural entities from all regions of the State.
The secretary’s note also points out that the government of Rio Grande do Sul doubled the resources for the LICgoing from R$ 35 million to BRL 70 million the annual amount made available. Some devices were also added to the Law, to make the flow of approvals more efficient and more isonomic. “Faced with this scenario of greater availability of resources, a considerable increase in the number of projects presented was noticed. Recent changes in the tiebreaker criteria, created and carried out by the council, however, ended up affecting projects that used to be contemplated”, points out the text.
Among the definitions are that Priority will be given to projects with locations in municipalities that have received less funding from LIC in the last 12 months.
“Since 2021, the state government has invested resources from the treasury in the Gramado Film Festival, for understanding its relevance to the gaucho and national cultural scene. That year, R$ 118.6 thousand were spent and last year it was R$ 280.6 thousand. For the next edition, to take place in 2023, around BRL 250,000 is expected, through the State Film Institute (Iecine). The amount is used, for example, to award filmmakers at the Sedac/Iecine Prize for Feature Films from Rio Grande do Sul”, clarifies the note from Sedac-RS.
