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Rwanda: European Union Injects Cash Into Regional Film Industry

The European Union, through European Development Fund for African Caribbean Pacific, has given 50,000 Euros (Rwf46 million) contract, to the regional cinema and audiovisual sector.

The contract dubbed "ACP Culture + Program," which was won by Maisha Film Lab, a Uganda-based film institute, will facilitate East African screenwriting competitions in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. About 60 best screenwriters will be awarded scholarships to improve their skills.

The contest will, also see 15 screenwriters selected from each of the four countries, and the overall national best screenwriter, will walk away with 2,000 Euros (Rwf2 million).

On Friday, Fibby Kioria, Programe director at Maisha Film Lab, told Journalists in Kigali that the competition aims at promoting culture and consolidating regional integration.

"We did not get European funding for Uganda, or Rwanda, or Kenya, we won it for East Africa. Our goal is to see the film industry in the region grow, while contributing to regional integration," she said.

"The task will give participants an opportunity to be trained by internationally renowned mentors to refine their work and broaden their horizons".

Eric Kabera, founder of The Rwanda (Kwetu) Film Institute, together with Maisha Film Lab, will carry out Rwanda's screenwriting lab.

"We look forward to the exercise with a lot of excitement. We hope to see Rwanda upcoming filmmakers. We also hope to see our regional film industry grow to the required standards," said Kabera.

Upcoming filmmakers will engage in an eight-day intensive scriptwriting competition slated to take place at Kwetu in July.

The screenwriting competition will supplement the annual Rwanda Film Festival nicknamed "Hillywood" that is scheduled for July 12 and the premiering of a new film titled 'Intore', a production of Kwetu institute.

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Rwanda: European Union Injects Cash Into Regional Film Industry

May 19th, 2014

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Huge tax breaks for Boeing challenged

Category: European Union

Monday, May 19 09:28:20

The European Union is considering raising the pressure on the United States in the world's largest trade dispute by challenging tax breaks that encouraged planemaker Boeing to keep production of its latest jet in Washington state, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The potential move would open a tense new phase in the decade-old formal trade dispute over aircraft industry aid, as Brussels and Washington argue about whether they have complied with rulings by the World Trade Organization, which in turn could set the tone for sanctions.

Both the EU and United States claimed victory when the WTO ruled between 2010 and 2012 against billions of dollars of support for Boeing and European rival Airbus, in a pair of cases spanning thousands of pages but lacking a final resolution.

But new aircraft developments by both companies have sparked fresh disputes over whether the two sides have obeyed those WTO rulings or simply continued aiding their industries as before.

The United States says European governments ignored the global trade court by agreeing to lend money to Airbus for the development of its new A350 jet, even though an internal row between Airbus and Germany has blocked part of that support.

Now, European officials are said to be getting ready to hit back by questioning $8.7 billion of tax breaks from Washington state and the issue may be discussed by ministers from Britain, France, Germany and Spain at next week's Berlin Airshow.

European Commission trade spokesman John Clancy called the Washington measure "the largest targeted state tax incentive for the civil aerospace industry in U.S. history."

"The EU is very concerned about the extension of these subsidies which indeed figure - originally and as extended - in the EU's WTO case on subsidies to Boeing, but it declines to comment further on the ongoing litigation," Clancy said by email.

The latest manoeuvres risk deepening an already bitter industrial and trade fight between the two planemakers as the 406-seat Boeing 777X and a large version of the A350 compete for billions of dollars of sales from around the end of the decade.

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Huge tax breaks for Boeing challenged

May 19th, 2014

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