New Directive, Old Principles: EU Film Policy, Small National Cinemas and the Case of Portugal

In November 2020, at the end of what has most likely been one of the worst years for the film and audiovisual sector across the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Portuguese parliament approved a new cinema law. Prompted by the European Commission’s (EC) 2018 Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), this legislative process generated national debate about how protective the law should be – or indeed could be - given the guidelines established by the European Commission (2020). While some predicted the death of Portuguese film, others claimed the new law would be a unique opportunity to revitalize this small-nation, minority-language cinema (see for instance Caetano 2020).