An exceptional call for tenders has been launched to support projects in the fields of art, publishing and books, with a budget envelope of some 50 MDH, stressed, on Tuesday in Rabat, the Minister of Culture , Youth and Sports, Othmane El Ferdaous.
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In his presentation to the Committee on Education, Culture and Communication in the House of Representatives, El Ferdaous said that the ministry has launched an exceptional program to support the publishing and book sector under the year 2020, by allocating a budget of 11 MDH for the benefit of all cultural actors, in particular authors, editors and associative actors, in addition to the launch of calls for tenders to support artistic projects , with an envelope of 39 MDH.
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Regarding support for books and publishing, El Ferdaous noted that the culture department has taken measures to settle the deadlines due, namely 13.5 MDH for projects supported in the field of edition and book, for previous years, namely 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
“The sector support program concerns the acquisition of books from libraries and publishers for distribution to school and public libraries, the publication and edition of cultural magazines, whether in paper or electronic version, as well as awareness-raising the importance of reading, ”he said.
The ministry also made sure, he added, to provide significant support to active cultural associations, while taking into consideration the state of health emergency.
With regard to support for the artistic sectors, the minister indicated that his department had taken a number of measures concerning authors’ rights, the situation of filmmakers, theater, music and the plastic arts, in order to mitigate the repercussions. harmful of the pandemic on this sector.
With regard to copyright, the Minister pointed out that the Moroccan Copyright Office (BMDA) has taken several exceptional measures for the benefit of artists and creators, including the rescheduling of distributions and the setting of deadlines for that the authors can benefit from it (from March 25), noting that an amount of more than 10 MDH intended for the revenues of private copying has been distributed, in addition to the payments for the benefit of the authors and creators adhering to BMDA, for an amount greater than 9 MDH for copyright income, from April 22.
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As for filmmakers, the Minister indicated that among the repercussions of the health crisis on the cinematographic sector, included the cessation of the cinematographic and audiovisual production activity for more than 50 private production companies, the closure of cinemas of cinema and the postponement of the release of films, as well as the unemployment of technicians in the film and audiovisual industry and artists.
This concerns all professional technicians, whether or not they hold a professional identity card issued by the Moroccan Cinematographic Center, registered with the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) or those working in the informal sector.
To mitigate the negative repercussions of the pandemic, the Moroccan Cinematographic Center has taken numerous measures, including the screening of 51 Moroccan films, one film every two days (March 30-July 10), and the maintenance of scheduled support under the year 2020 in favor of the film industry, as well as the acceleration of the payment of sums due to film production companies, that is 6.5 MDH.
Concerning the theater, music and plastic arts sectors, El Ferdaous affirmed that the ministry set out, in coordination with the ministry of the Economy, finance and administrative reform, to take measures to settle the files of cultural and artistic projects for the year 2019, knowing that more than 80% of the remaining support amounts (22 MDH) have been paid, for the benefit of artists and artistic groups benefiting the support of artistic projects for the past year and which have fulfilled their commitments.
In this context, the Minister pointed out that an amount estimated at 20 MDH was allocated to national theatrical tours, 12 MDH to music, singing, performing arts and choreography and a financial envelope of 2 MDH to plastic and visual art exhibitions.
Regarding the artist card and the status of artists, the minister revealed that during meetings of the committee for the professional artist card, more than 4,000 files were examined remotely, specifying that 2,000 new cards will be issued in the coming years. days.
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