Germany’s ambitions of becoming an internationally competitive production hub have been thrown into question by planned cost-cutting measures proposed by Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s cabinet for 2027.
According to a government draft bill, next year’s budget for culture and media would be cut by around 8% from the current €2.57bn to €2.36bn.
As part of the measures, funding for the German Federal Film Fund (DFFF) and German Motion Picture Fund (GMPF) would be slashed by €50, from €250m to €200m.
The news comes only weeks after the Minister of State for Culture and the Media Wolfram Weimer had heralded a funding increase of some 90% as a so-called “Filmbooster” for the two incentives from the previous annual sum of €133m to a total of €250m this year.
This cash injection had been made possible after the federal cabinet passed a bill to introduce legislation for an investment obligation from international and national streamers and other VoD services.
At the time, Weimer had declared that this additional funding for the two incentive programmes would be “taking German cinema to a new level in the global competition between film hubs” and added “that, for the first time, the entire film industry can now plan reliably for years to come.”
While the cabinet’s proposed budget cuts are not set in stone and will come under parliamentary scrutiny after the summer recess, German film producers and studios have nevertheless expressed growing concern at the knock-on effects such a measure could have on their efforts to attract international productions to shoot in Germany and to prevent local productions being enticed by more generous incentive to shoot outside of Germany.
Speaking after Studio Babelsberg unveiled its financial results for 2025, the studio’s CEO Jörg Bachmaier said: “The announced doubling of film funding was an important signal from the Federal Government. It was immediately recognised internationally and instilled new confidence among producers in Germany as a film hub.”
“Cuts at this stage would therefore send a disastrous signal. Trust cannot be rebuilt from scratch every year,” he argued. “It is now crucial to secure this momentum and be consistent in implementing the announced measures. The industry needs planning certainty and a reliable framework so that long-term investment decisions are made for Germany’s benefit”.
“The Federal Government’s erratic course is hardly comprehensible from a rational point of view. After the signal of a new beginning comes the axe of austerity,” Achim Rohnke, CEO of the Association of German Service Providers for the Audiovisual Industry (VTFF), said, noting that this form of policy “is causing frustration and uncertainty within the (international) film and television industry, but, above all, amongst technical and creative service providers who are in urgent need of more commissions and greater use of their facilities.”
“The complicated German funding policy is difficult enough to explain to foreign partners as it is,” Rohnke added. “Now, investors from abroad are having to face the reality that promised funding is once again not available. This deters investment and damages the reputation of the domestic film and television industry.”
Projects supported by the two incentive programmes [DFFF and GMPF] have included such international feature film projects as Padraci McKinley’s The Weight, Paul Greengrass’ The Uprising, and Benoit Godhout’s The Bottanix as well as such TV series as Netflix’s The Boys from Brazil, Amazon Prime’s Legacy of Spies and Apple TV’s Wild Things.
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